Photo By Michael Jackson
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival, one of the most astutely curated and organized arts events on the Chicago cultural calendar, reached its 18th year the last weekend in September. Except for one brief shower, the rain in the forecast stayed away, and though the Hyde Park Herald had just published a story on the financial headwinds faced by the festival—even suggesting that this could be its final year—neither that news nor the thick gray clouds could dampen the mood. The fest’s usual broadly diverse audience—one of the best features of this south-side jewel—showed up and remained attentive and engaged for all the music on the program, no matter where it landed on the Venn diagram of “challenging,” “educational,” and “fun.”
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