Chicago Calling: Unsung Heroes of the City’s Hardbop Scene

Chicago is a historic capital of early jazz and post-World War II blues, but in the 1950s and early 60s it also had a thriving hardbop scene. While jazz luminaries such as Gene Ammons, Eddie Harris and Johnny Griffin all emerged from this scene, it also featured numerous talented players who achieved varied or limited degrees of recognition, such as trumpeter and saxophonist Ira Sullivan, bassist Wilbur Ware, and saxophonists John Jenkins and Von Freeman (who has finally gained some renown in recent years). These musicians played hardbop with a bluesy, brawny edge, suffused with what Chicago native and jazz critic Larry Kart calls “an air of downhome experimentation.”

“Chicago Calling” features music from these lesser-known artists, as well as trumpeter Gene Shaw (who left the jazz world in the late 1950s after brilliant appearances on several Charles Mingus albums and then re-emerged in Chicago in the early 1960s), saxophonist Joe Daley, and the hardbop group MJT + 3. I’ll be doing another program of lesser-known Chicago hardbop later this year–too much good stuff ended up on the cutting-room floor this time around. In the meantime, check out Jason Crane’s interview with Chicago jazz scene heavyweight Mike Reed over at The Jazz Session. Reed’s CD Proliferation explores the Chicago hardbop song book of the 1950s and 60s.

Previous points-Chicago trips on Night Lights:

Away From the Spaceways: John Gilmore. Another hardbop hero of the Chicago scene.

Second Magic City: Sun Ra in Chicago. How Sonny Blount from Birmingham, Alabama became Sun Ra of Chicago, Illinois.

The Memphis Mafia: Mabern, Strozier, Coleman and Little. The Memphis-to-Chicago hardbop connection.

Larry Kart: Jazz’s Intrepid Critical Searcher. Longtime Chicago resident and top-drawer jazz critic Larry Kart’s book includes several excellent articles about Chicago musicians such as Ira Sullivan, Wilbur Ware, and Johnny Griffin.

Those with a general interest in modern Chicago jazz can also find a treasure trove of history in George Lewis’ recent book, A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music, which includes a good deal of background on the city’s hardbop scene.

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