Jazz Thaw
March 12 @ 1:00 pm - 10:00 pm
March 12, 2022
Sip, sizzle and swing during Jazz Thaw! Enjoy free live music performances inside 12 local restaurants with the option to order from the host restaurant’s menu. Presented by Downtown Oak Park in partnership with 90.9 WDCB “Chicago’s Home for Jazz!”
MUSIC SCHEDULE
1PM to 4PM
Lea French Cafe (1-3pm)
106 N Marion St
(708) 613-5994
leafrenchcafe.com
** Seating is first come, first serve **
“Andy Brown is a guitarist based in Chicago. Born in New York in 1975, he has played professionally for over twenty five years. He has had a varied performing career that has included stints in Cincinnati and New York City. Since coming to Chicago in 2003, Andy has been fortunate to work at many of the area’s finest jazz venues with his own bands, as well as playing his unique brand of solo jazz guitar. He has backed visiting jazz names at places including The Jazz Showcase, Ravinia and the Harris Theater. Currently he plays solo guitar every Thursday at The Green Mill, leads his quartet every Wednesday at Andy’s Jazz Club and performs with his trio bi-weekly at Winter’s Jazz Club.”
Click here to read the full biography.
Q-BBQ
124 N Marion St
(708) 628-3421
www.q-bbq.com
** Seating is first come, first serve **
“It makes perfect sense that Neal Alger’s jazz guitar style and compositions reflect a variety of styles and approaches. Over the years, Neal has played different kinds of music and they’ve continued to influence him up to this day. For example, Neal performed hard rock/heavy metal as a teenager and co-wrote nearly all of the music in his first rock band entitled Requiem. In addition to modern jazz, Neal’s ever-expanding musical curiosity has led him to play in other groups that are sometimes jazz-related, sometimes not. Neal plays R&B fusion with keyboardist/singer William Kurk, rock/pop movie soundtracks with Androgynous Mustache, sophisticated pop with Steely Dan cover band Bad Sneakers Orchestra and classic rock covers with Cast Iron Skillet.”
Click here to read the full biography.
BeerShop
1026 North Blvd
(847) 946-4164
www.beershophq.com
** Seating is first come, first serve **
“The best musicians tend to display at least a bit of their roots in everything they do, and jazz guitarist Tony Do Rosario is no exception. While himself a product of the Atlantic City area of southern New Jersey, Tony’s appreciation for music came at an early age growing up as a first-generation American amid a family whose native Brazilian culture was a regular part of the household.”
Click here to read the full biography.
3PM to 6PM
The Little Gem Cafe
189 N Marion St
(708) 613-5491
thelittlegemcafe.com
“SOHN” by Ethan Adelsman, Graham Nelson on harmonica & vocals and Mason Jiller on guitar.
Ethan was born with a violin in hand… well nearly. His love of the instrument transcends his Classical training, making him adept and equally at home in nearly any genre. He has logged his time on the road playing searing violin pop solos with the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, as Associate Concertmaster for the Western Piedmont Symphony in North Carolina, and with songwriter Tim Lowly. At home in his native Chicago, Ethan is a continually requested gigging and session musician in the Gypsy Jazz, Bluegrass, Latin Jazz, Traditional Jazz, Rock, and Classical genres, performing regularly with groups like the Chicago Cellar Boys, the Westerlees, and the Paradise Harmonians. A composer and performer, his love of Hot Club jazz and eclectic music has given birth to the powerhouse band Bowmanville.
Click here to read the full biography.
La Borra Cafe
1100 Lake St, Suite 100B
(708) 948-7007
www.laborracafe.com
** Seating is first come, first serve **
Barry Winograd & Jim Ryan
Biography coming soon!
Nando’s PERi-PERi
1138 Lake St
(708) 434-6296
www.nandosperiperi.com
Luciano Antonio Brazilian Trio
“Luciano was born into a musical family in rural Iretama, Parana, Brazil’s southern region. From this melodiously rich environment, he learned first how to sing with his mom, Luiza Maria. He further developed his vocal abilities through his maternal grandparents, who performed for local live radio shows and paternal grandparents, who harmonized beautifully.”
Click here to read the full biography.
Sushi House
1107 Lake St
(708) 660-8899
www.mysushihouse.com
** Seating is first come, first serve **
“Saxophonist and composer Gregory Dudzienski lives a life of constant motion. After years of travel, he has become a member of Chicago’s strong community of musicians and improvisers. His original music has been featured on the Anagram Series at The Elastic Arts Foundation, the Actual Jazz Series at Cafe Mustache, and the Chicago Jazz Composers Collective At The Green Mill as well as the Is This Jazz Series at AS200 in Providence, Rhode Island, the International Saxophone Symposium in Fairfax, Virginia, and the Salerno Jazz Festival in Salerno Italy.”
Click here to read the full biography.
5PM to 8PM
Tre Sorelle Ristorante
1111 Lake St
(708) 445-9700
tresorelleoakpark.com
**Reservations required **
“Jazz singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and educator Michele Thomas is a suave innovator. With silken grace she eases in her formative background in gospel, and her love of R&B, soul, and neo-soul, into a musical language that shows a dedication and a passion for jazz, spanning all of its defining eras. Michele’s restless creativity reflects jazz’s improvisatory spirit—for jazz, like life, is a journey and not a destination. ”
Click here to read the full biography.
Q-BBQ
124 N Marion St
(708) 628-3421
www.q-bbq.com
** Seating is first come, first serve **
“Jazz Guitarist Derek Duleba performs and teaches in the Chicagoland area. He is an active member of the Chicago jazz community, performing all throughout the city at venues like Chicago Symphony Center, Jay Pritzker Pavilion, The Green Mill, and The Jazz Showcase.”
Click here to read the full biography.
BeerShop
1026 North Blvd
(847) 946-4164
www.beershophq.com
** Seating is first come, first serve **
“The Paul Abella Trio is an instrumental ensemble led by professional box sitter, Paul Abella, and featuring guitarist Billy Denk, bassist Chris Bernhardt, and in their +1 variant, vibraphonist Preyas Roy. They fuse Pop melodies, Jazz harmonies, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and Funk rhythms, jammy improvisations with punk ferocity. Look past the off-kilter instrumentation and the oddball setlists, and you’ll see a band upholding a tradition of Jazz as subversive party music. Drawing inspiration from Eddie Harris, Medeski, Martin & Wood, The Bad Plus, and Lester Bowie, they sound like little else.”
Click here to read the full biography.
Katy’s Dumplings
1113 Lake St
(708) 383-9888
www.katysdumplings.com
** Seating is first, come first serve **
Adrian Ruiz: “Dr. Adrian Ruiz is active as a freelance trumpeter, performing regularly throughout the state of Texas. In February 2021, he received a Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category for Live at the Paramount with the Ruthie Foster Big Band. In June 2021, Dr. Ruiz authored a series of Claudio Roditi transcriptions, which are available through qPress Music Publishing.”
Click here to read the full biography.
Markus Rutz: “Markus Rutz plays the trumpet with a bluesy, soulful style and a tone that has been called gorgeous. He composes and performs music from his home base in Chicago, Illinois. For over three decades, the musical discoveries continue for Chicago-born jazz composer and trumpeter, Markus Rutz. As described by Downbeat’s J.D. Considine, with his “big, dark tone and a fluid ease to his phrasing,” trumpet player, composer and bandleader, Markus regularly delights audiences in venues throughout his hometown and across the United States.”
Click here to read the full biography.
7PM to 10PM
Nando’s PERi-PERi
1138 Lake St
(708) 434-6296
www.nandosperiperi.com
“Braden Smith is a Saxophonist living and performing in the Chicago area. Originally from California, Braden began playing saxophone and studying music at a young age. When he was in High School, Braden was spotted by renowned guitarist Robben Ford during the High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, California. The following day he was asked to perform with Ford’s group. The experience of playing with Ford helped define Braden as a musician. It was one of the moments responsible for his decision to pursue a life in music. The music of Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Mark Turner, helped to shape his personal voice and identity on his instrument.”
Click here to read the full biography.
Sushi House
1107 Lake St
(708) 660-8899
www.mysushihouse.com
** Seating is first come, first serve **
“The Shawn Maxwell Quartet is not your average jazz quartet. While the instrumentation, alto sax/piano/bass/drums, is fairly common, the writing, approach & style are anything but. The band focuses on all original material penned by Shawn, is his own unique voice. The results are a high energy mixture of bebop, rock, hip hop, classical and fusion. ”
Click here to read the full biography.
Shawn Maxwell – Alto Saxophone, Clarinet & Flute
Matt Nelson – Piano
Junius Paul – Acoustic Bass
Phil Beale – Drums
Khyber Pass
1031 Lake St
(708) 445-9032
www.khyberpassrestaurant.com
“An up and coming, multitalented musician, Julius Tucker is a pianist, composer, bandleader and producer. His musical voice encompasses a multitude of genres, from jazz to house music. He is especially known for his complex sensitivities and agile fluidity on the piano and keyboard which have become his signature style. ”
Click here to read the full biography.
Kalamata Kitchen
105 N Marion St
(708) 628-3661
www.kitchenkalamata.com
“This is what was scribbled with a sharpie pen onto a CD of mixes handed to Andy on July 16th, 2016. After receiving an email from Pratt in January of the same year, legendary recording engineer Steve Albini quickly realized that he was not dealing with the Boston rock icon of the ‘70s, but a new & different Andy Pratt. As a vocalist, guitarist, songwriter & photographer, Pratt loves the fuzz, blur, grain, & beautiful imperfections of analog music and live art. With an affinity for tape, vintage instruments, film cameras, string quartets, & brooding melodies, his music lives within a modern impressionist world of his own creation. Pratt is a storyteller who sings to clearly evoke a mood, space or time. With a dry vocal and reverberating guitar, he brings his listeners into the world he’s created.”
Click here to read the full biography.
Encore! by Little Gem
189 N Marion St
(708) 613-5491
encorelittlegem.com
“Peter Saxe has been sharing his unique interpretations of jazz classics and standards with audiences around the world for more than three decades. His piano artistry creates a delicate intimacy with audiences, whether a table of two at a quiet club, a private salon, or a concert for 1,000. He finds in performance an opportunity to express pure joy and love for music, and a chance to share his delight in the lyric and rhythm of his favorite compositions.”
Click here to read the full biography.
