Post-Tribune

Local Buzz for May 17, 2013

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:10:04 -0500

Here is a look at music events. Suggestions include Majestic Star Casino’s Lakeshore Lounge.

First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre’s 2013 concert season

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:07:24 -0500

The 2013 summer concert season is a live music fan’s dream. A ton of great gigs are on the way, and many of them will be at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, 19100 S. Ridgeland Ave., Tinley Park. “It’s a busy summer and there’s just a lot of great artists on the road and great shows coming through,” said Jon Reens, senior director of marketing/Midwest for Live Nation, which operates FMBA. “They run the gamut on style and they run the gamut on format. It’s an extremely wide-ranging summer season.” The outdoor venue is boasting the most amount of country concerts …

James Cotton harmonious as ever these days

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:41:41 -0500

THOMAS CONNER: Playing “country blues” of Memphis and the slicker “big-city blues” of Chicago, the harmonica legend made friends who join him on a new album he calls “the best thing we ever did.”

Local Buzz for May 10, 2013

Fri, 10 May 2013 02:10:08 -0500

Here’s a look at some music events. Suggestions include Zodiac, Front Porch Music and Small Potatoes.

Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra to perform ‘Symphony No. 9’

Fri, 10 May 2013 02:11:32 -0500

Most people would find it difficult to conceive that Ludwig van Beethoven could create one of his greatest symphonies while he was virtually deaf. But Steven Grives, director of choral ensembles at DePaul University, said Beethoven’s genius also was his skill to overcome his disability by improvising. “He could conceive the music in his head,” Grives said, “and I understand that he actually performed the notes on a piano by removing the legs and resting the piano on his lap so he could feel the vibrations.” That doesn’t explain how the then-aging Beethoven managed to create choral music as well. …

Brad Paisley at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre

Fri, 10 May 2013 02:11:07 -0500

NASHVILLE, TENN. — Give most country songwriters the phrase Southern Comfort Zone, and most of them immediately will go to whiskey. Brad Paisley’s mind works differently. “Would that song be about hanging out around a bonfire in the middle of the country and holding a certain brand of whiskey?” wonders the singer, whose new album “Wheelhouse” features a song by that name. “Or is that about leaving there and what you learn and how you’ll never be the same? To me, the one that felt like it hadn’t been written would be the one about leaving.” “That sort of set …

Chicago band Kids These Days confirms breakup

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:11:16 -0500

“It was definitely a creative thing,” Liam Cunningham told the Sun-Times. “When we started the band, we were all 15 years old, and we’ve all grown musically since then. I think everybody felt a bit suffocated.”

Love helps Rod Stewart overcome writer’s block

Tue, 07 May 2013 23:18:20 -0500

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Rod Stewart has never shied from the spotlight, but on this day, the famously cheeky rocker wants a softer glow. He’s waiting to be interviewed on camera about his first album of original music in almost 20 years, and the lighting inside the fitness center of his Beverly Hills compound isn’t quite right. He calls for his No. 1 expert to check it out. “My wife’s on her way over,” he says. When Penny Lancaster arrives, legs all the way up to her tousled blonde ponytail, she looks through the camera and insists on softer …

Rapper Ja Rule leaves upstate New York federal prison

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:30:01 -0500

ALBANY, N.Y. — Federal authorities say platinum-selling rapper Ja Rule has left federal prison. The 36-year-old rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, left a state prison in central New York in February after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession, going straight into federal custody in a tax evasion case. The Federal Bureau of Prisons says he left a correctional facility in the central Adirondacks on Tuesday, though time remains on his sentence. The bureau says his release date technically remains July 28, with possible community-based supervision for the balance. TMZ reports his wife picked him …

Let the ideas flow in CSO’s monthlong study of rivers

Thu, 02 May 2013 21:56:00 -0500

Rivers curve and flow across continents, quench thirsty farmlands and serve as thoroughfares of commerce and culture. They define the character of cities great and small, and they inspire poets, novelists, composers and everyday dreamers. The many facets of these essential waterways will be highlighted Thursday through June 9, when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra presents a multidisciplinary festival titled, “Rivers: Nature. Power. Culture.” In addition to festival-related performances by the symphony itself, its related ensembles and performance series will present programs tied to the theme, and there will be such special events as a symposium on May 18, with historians, …

Audrey Hepburn’s life makes for an evening of cabaret

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:41:09 -0500

Iconic actress Audrey Hepburn is only peripherally associated with songs or singing. Yes, she starred in “My Fair Lady” but the vocals were dubbed, and she sang only briefly in a few films such as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “Funny Face.” So creating a cabaret show, which is all about the song, around the actress might seem a stretch. Hilary Ann Feldman feels just the opposite. A cabaret performer who sometimes delves into the unusual, Feldman had been toying with the idea for years before deciding to give it a shot. The result is “My Fair Audrey,” a show created …

A more mature Paramore eyes longevity

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:41:40 -0500

For a band that often seemed as they collectively thrived on a certain amount of turmoil and angst in both their personal and professional lives, critically acclaimed rockers Paramore now find themselves sitting at the top of the charts, looking damn content. “Yes, we are just really happy,” gushes Paramore frontwoman Hailey Williams, the fiery siren behind the Nashville-based trio. “Everything has changed for the better. I’m glad that we all get along and that collectively, we know for a fact and without any doubt that the three of us want to be here more than anything.” No longer reeling …

Local Buzz for May 3, 2013

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:44:38 -0500

Here is a look at music events.

Orion Ensemble celebrates the music of Mexico

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:51:16 -0500

The Orion Ensemble is concluding its 20th anniversary season with a flair. More specifically, “Folk Inspirations with a Mexican Flair.” That theme is carried out in a program featuring works by two Mexican composers, Manuel Ponce and Arturo Marquez. The showpiece of the program is the premiere of a commissioned piece by Miguel de la Cerna, a Chicago pianist, conductor and music director who has created jazz arrangements for Oscar Brown, Jr., Dee Alexander and other esteemed performers. “Almas Perdidas” (Lost Souls) is de la Cerna’s second commission for the group; they premiered another piece of his last year. Kathryne …

Chris Kelly, of rap duo Kris Kross, dies at 34 in Atlanta

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:15:46 -0500

ATLANTA — Chris Kelly, half of the 1990s kid rap duo Kris Kross who made one of the decade’s most memorable songs with the frenetic “Jump,” died at an Atlanta hospital on Wednesday of an apparent drug overdose at his home, authorities said. He was 34. “It appears it may have been a possible drug overdose,” said Cpl. Kay Lester, a spokeswoman for the Fulton County police.

PepsiCo pulls Mountain Dew ad after criticism

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:28:48 -0500

PepsiCo pulled an online ad for Mountain Dew that was criticized for portraying racial stereotypes and making light of violence toward women.