Review: Hyde Park Jazz Festival makes a mighty impact online
By Howard Reich
Sep 27, 2020 at 11:09 am
No, it wasn’t quite the same as spending a day running around Hyde Park catching jazz sets in concert halls, courtyards, churches and whatnot.
But the folks who stage the annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival weren’t going to let the pandemic derail the 14th annual event. So the two-day soirée opened Saturday with a series of stylistically wide-ranging shows livestreamed from the University of Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts.
True, it was a little weird to hear a musician’s big solo answered by silence in the hall, since no audience was present. After a while, however, you got used to that, focusing entirely on the pure pleasure of hearing music (albeit through computer speakers).
Several of Chicago’s most admired musicians were the stars, and judging by what they played, you’d never guess that most have had few — if any — gigs since March. Clearly, they’ve been practicing.