Music Reviews

On Doja Cat's fourth album, Scarlet, she delights in playing the "demon" her haters and fans accuse her of being.

Music & Culture

On 'Scarlet,' Doja Cat finds power harnessing the darkness of online vitriol

4:26pm October 09, 2023

by Jason King

The pop star has always loved out-trolling her trolls. But Doja Cat's fourth album and dramatic rollout pushes that persona further, interpreting her antics through a playfully demonic lens.

Music & Culture

An appreciation of Von Freeman, the patron saint of Chicago jazz musicians

3:33pm October 02, 2023

by Kevin Whitehead

The tenor saxophonist, who died in 2012, would have been 100 on Oct. 3. Freeman's weekly jam session at the New Apartment Lounge on Chicago's South Side became an international pilgrimage site.

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Music & Culture

Celebrating jazz great Sam Rivers, on what would have been his 100th birthday

1:46pm September 25, 2023

by Kevin Whitehead

The composer and multi-instrumentalist from El Reno, Okla., played blues, bebop, big-band music and free jazz — and sometimes a mix of everything. Rivers also gave other musicians a place to play.

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Music & Culture

Musician Allison Russell is full surprises and ambition on 'The Returner'

2:12pm September 12, 2023

by Ken Tucker

The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist spent years in various bands, including Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters. Now Russell's startling sophomore album serves as a sort of rebirth.

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London-based company Nothing markets its Nothing Phone 2 as a less distracting smartphone.

Music & Culture

Tiny Tech Tips: From iPhone to Nothing Phone

10:07am September 12, 2023

by Josh Rogosin

As the world waits for the iPhone 15, a loyal iPhone user tries out a competitor, the Nothing Phone 2.

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Before (left to right) Justin Vernon, Joe Westerlund, Phil Cook and Brad Cook started Bon Iver and Megafaun, they made music together as DeYarmond Edison.

Music & Culture

Bon Iver wasn't born in a vacuum — it took an 'Epoch' to form

2:50pm August 29, 2023

by Stephen Thompson

DeYarmond Edison's Epoch revels in the early alchemic triumphs of Bon Iver and Megafaun members. But the box set also reminds us that no moment of creative inspiration takes place spontaneously.

Sundial is against sitting idle, and calls not just to hear its own voice, but to enter into conversation in the griot tradition of call and response.

Music & Culture

Noname's 'Sundial' pursues a hip-hop revolution

3:07pm August 28, 2023

by Harmony Holiday

The Chicago rapper and poet is among the greatest lyricists of her generation. In asking tough questions of the art she practices, her third album reveals a fearless and visionary performer.

STILLPOINT is the first album in 12 years from pianist Awadagin Pratt.

After 12 years, pianist Awadagin Pratt rediscovers his sweet spot

4:58pm August 25, 2023

by Tom Huizenga

Absent from the recording studio for more than a decade, the restless musician has commissioned six composers for his new album.

Wayne Shorter performs during the Marciac Jazz festival in southern France in 2005. Two recent tribute projects each aim to capture the wandering spirit of the late saxophonist.

Music & Culture

Wayne Shorter, From Here to Eternity

1:41pm August 25, 2023

by Nate Chinen

Nearly six months after his death, a tribute concert and a documentary attempt to capture the spirit of the perpetually exploring saxophonist and composer.

Music & Culture

'Verdi Choruses' showcases the impressive variety of a master's choral music

1:21pm August 25, 2023

by Lloyd Schwartz

Verdi imagined each of his operas painted with a different tincture. Conductor Riccardo Chailly puts together an exciting new album of Verdi's choruses, from his best known to his most obscure.

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