Words / Photos: Howard GreenblattJeff Beck, Paul Rodgers, and Ann Wilson joined forces to present the Stars Align tour at Chicagos Huntington Park Pavilion on July 29.Beck's closing set was nothing short of incendiary. The crowd stood and roared as he appeared and never sat, the stage bathed in smoke and colored lights.Beck's set contained...

This installment of Notes From The Jazz Underground is based on the August 19th broadcast.  This also happens to be the show's penultimate broadcast as host Paul Abella is taking on another morning shift on WDCB and surrendering his Friday night slot.The show itself was a combination of a Chicago Jazz Festival...

By: Philamonjaro StudioSunday, July 31st, Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy co-headlined at Ravinia for a full house. A perfect Chicago summer night set the mood for an audience of all ages.Jeff Beck played a seventy five minute set mixing in cuts from his new release Loud Hailer and plenty of...

This edition of Notes From The Jazz Underground was sourced from the July 15th broadcast.If last week's show was all about the epics, this show was much more about songcraft. The Jeff Beck tune was a request from NFTJU host Paul Abella's buddy's.  The version of "Naima" (Carlos and McLaughlin) prompted...

Ravinia announced its lineup for 2016 today. With events and concerts scheduled from June 2 through September 11, the festival will feature more than 100 performers.Highlights include Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration featuring Warren Haynes, Buddy Guy with Jeff Beck, Chick Corea Trio, Steve Miller Band, Duran Duran, Hollywood Vampires (featuring Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper...

This installment of Notes From The Jazz Underground features the playlist based on the January 31st show.This was the show broadcast the day after found Umphrey's McGee drummer Mike Mirro had passed so NFTJU host Paul Abella built the playlist around some UM material.First featuring Mirro, "Nothing Too Fancy" from Local Band Does...

This installment of Notes From The Jazz Underground features the playlist based on the January 24th show.Here's what I love about Jazz Underground: I get to discover musicians that have been hiding in plan site forever.This show was partially a tribute to Gary Burton for his birthday. I admit, I'm no Gary Burton...

This installment of Notes From The Jazz Underground features the playlist based on the October 25th show.We're falling a bit behind here on recapping these playlists, this one was the last show before Halloween, so it kicked off with a jazz version of "Thriller" by organist Joey DeFrancesco.Fun fact. Did you know the...

What seems like an unlikely pairing is actually winning some acclaim on a tour this fall. British blues master Jeff Beck and Brian Wilson (with former Beach boy compadres Al Jardine and David Marks) have superstar resumes if not superstar status or "buzz", but together they make for an entertaining evening of contrasts and collaborations....

This installment of Notes From The Jazz Underground features the playlist from two shows, first August 30th and the September 6th.Once again, Paul's playlists provided some Spotify puzzles so I had to make a handful of substitions and supplements (with some videos below). Some quick things to look out forOne of the videos features...