Norman Connors & More Coming Up This Spring at City Winery Chicago
By: BWW News Desk Apr. 04, 2017
City Winery Chicago, 1200 W. Randolph Street, announces jazz artist Norman Connors & The Starship Orchestra, folk artist Chris Smither, the return of Chicago-based cellist Ian Maksin and more.
The following shows go on sale to the public on Thursday, April 6 at noon at citywinery.com/chicago.
WDCB Jazz Brunch featuring the Mark Colby Quartet
Sunday, April 30; 12:00 p.m.
GA Seated; $12 advance, $15 Day of show
Mark Colby has been a part of the Chicago jazz scene since he moved to the city in 1980. Immediately, he started participating in the exploding recording market. Jingles, record dates and jazz gigs were plentiful. In 1983, he was approached by DePaul University to assume a teaching position as jazz saxophone instructor. He's still there and, in 1998, Colby joined the faculty at Elmhurst College. In the ensuing years, he played, and in some cases toured, with such varied luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Jaco Pastorius, Mose Allison, Joe Williams and Charlie Haden. Currently, he is performing as a guest soloist and clinician/adjudicator at middle schools, high schools and colleges throughout the United States and Europe, representing Selmer Paris saxophones and Vandoren reeds. His most recent album, All or Nothing at All, was released on his own RCI label in fall 2016.
Sunday, April 30; 7:00 p.m.
$15/$18/$22/$25
Russian-born Chicago-based cellist and composer Ian Maksin has gained international recognition for his beautiful tone, his own unique innovative style of playing the instrument and for taking the cello well outside its conventional role. As a soloist, Maksin gives more than two hundred public performances annually in North and South America, Europe and Asia. He has performed in many prestigious concert halls throughout the world and has appeared at festivals such as Ravinia and Lollapalooza, Spoleto and Ravenna in Italy and the White Nights Festival in Russia. His recently released album of original music for solo cello, Soul Companion, has received great acclaim from critics and audiences around the globe alike. Apart from being highly regarded as a classical artist, Maksin collaborates with artists of other genres playing jazz, blues, flamenco, rock, R&B and world music, blending many styles together using cello as the common denominator. He can often be heard and seen in collaborative projects with many other leading Chicago artists such as Goran Ivanovic, Grazyna Auguscik, Paulino Garcia, Howard Levy and Corky Siegel as well as members of Steppenwolf Theater Company, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera and Joffrey Ballet. As a guest artist, he has performed and recorded with such artists as Andrea Bocelli, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan and Barry Gibb. He has also opened performances for Sting and his guitarist Dominic Miller.
Tuesday, May 16
$10/$12/$15/$18
Juno Award-winning Whitehorse began as something of a folk duo, but quickly outgrew that box with their inventive instrumentation and resistance to expectation. The duo moved into "space cowboy" twang territory on the debut apocalyptic full-length album The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss, a fitting title lifted from a Wonder Woman comic. From there, Whitehorse expanded the intergalactic atmospherics with Leave No Bridge Unburned, a chase-scene-velocity acceleration into rock n' roll with lethal riffs and near indecent vocal heat. Most recently, the duo rebuilt early electric blues for The Northern South Vol. 1, which showcased the duo's adventurousness and enviable guitar collection. The duo's songwriting is distinguished by its cinematic fiction, full of flawed characters, foiled plans and anti-fairytales that transform real life into sleek, stylized collages of neo-noir drama and high-gloss. With the new single "Boys Like You," Whitehorse once again mixes things up, adding hip-hop producers and processed beats and expanding their studio sound with samplers, vintage drum-machines and more. The result is a song that is an irresistible fusion of 90s guitar rock riffs and Brit pop-inspired swells with futuristic, cinematic production.
The CrossRhodes: Raheem DeVaughn + Wes Felton
Sunday, May 21; 6:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.
$45/$48/$55/$58
The arrest and death of Freddy Gray in 2015 inspired Raheem DeVaughn and Wes Felton to reconnect via a telephone call. Ten years prior they had joined forces and created music and a movement together. Since then, DeVaughn produced five solo albums and garnered three Grammy nominations, while Felton's career as a poet and actor took off. Both sons of jazz musician fathers and raised in single mother homes, the two had been living parallel lives as black men and as artists for far longer than they had actually known each other. With the country at a political and cultural crossroad, this phone call inspired the rebirth of a movement. The CrossRhodes, reborn. DeVaughn and Felton have reunited to "make the soundtrack for the movement." Through their music, they aim to inspire audiences to activate, think outside the box, outside themselves and outside this world.
Norman Connors & the Starship Orchestra
Wednesday, May 31
$32/$35/$38/$42
Jazz drummer, composer, arranger, producer and headliner Norman Connors appears with his friends to perform at City Winery. Connors has led influential jazz and R&B groups and he is most known for the ballads "You Are My Starship" with Micael Henderson and "Betcha by Golly Wow" with Phyllis Hyman. He has played with other jazz and R&B acts such as Pharaoh Sanders, Peabo Bryson, Jean Carne, Howard Hewett and many more. His most recent album, Star Power, is a mixture of smooth jazz and urban crossover music.
Friday, July 28
$22/$25/$28/$32
American folk-blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Chris Smither, known for "Love You Like a Man" and "I Feel the Same" covered by Bonnie Raitt, marked his 50th music-making anniversary with the album Still on the Levee in 2014. On this retrospective album, Smither revisits 25 songs spanning his career all the way back to his 1970 debut album, I'm a Stranger, Too! Honing a synthesis of folk and blues for more than 50 years, Smither is truly an American original. As Acoustic Guitar Magazine wrote, Smither sings about "the big things - life, love, loss - in a penetrating and poetic yet unpretentious way."
Monday, August 28
$25/$28/$32/$35
With more than 30 years in the rock and roll business, the story of Welsh alternative rock band The Alarm has been a continuing and ever unfolding drama since being formed in Rhyl, North Wales, still fronted by lead singer and guitarist Mike Peters. From adrenaline-filled acoustic rock played with a vengeance to deft rock n' roll played from the heart, The Alarm's songs have a lasting effect on their fans who are a fiercely loyal rabble that to this day and continue to support the band and the various solo efforts spawned by its members. The band can lay claim to a series of 15 Top 50 UK singles, including their classic hits, "68 Guns," "Spirit of 76," "Rain in the Summertime," "Strength," "45 RPM" and, of course, "The Stand." Ten successful albums and more than 5 million sales worldwide, The Alarm's pioneering use of acoustic guitars brought the band into direct contact with the likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young and U2, all whom have appeared and sung on stage with The Alarm.
City Winery also announce The Lawrence Peters Outfit opens for Wanda Jackson on May 17.
All City Winery events are open to all ages and start at 8 p.m., unless noted.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, April 6 at noon. Only members of City Winery Chicago's signature VinoFile program have access to ticket sales today in addition to receiving: a waiver of ticket service fees; free valet parking; Restaurant Loyalty Rewards, such as a free pair of VIP concert tickets for every $500 spent on food & beverage in the restaurant; exclusive membership-only events; and access to the proprietary City Winery Virtual Sommelier, which helps make suggestions for wines one might enjoy based on past consumption at the venue.
Ian Maksin, The CrossRhodes, Norman Connors & the Starship Orchestra, Chris Smither, Whitehorse and The Alarm join a diverse mix of the most respected names in pop, rock, jazz, blues, world music, theater, dance, spoken word and comedy presented at City Winery Chicago, including previously announced headliners and supporting acts Downtown Freedom Seder (Apr. 4, 7pm); Shawn Mullins with Rick Brantley (Apr. 5); Rufus Wainwright with Lucy Wainwright Roche (Apr. 6); Rufus Wainwright (Apr. 7, 7:30 & 10pm); Amel Larrieux (Apr. 8, 7 & 10pm); Crystal Bowersox with Ken Yates (Apr. 9); Dave Mason (Apr. 10-11); Shane Koyczan (Apr. 12); Emily King (Apr. 13); Marc Cohn with Clarence Bucaro (Apr. 14-15); Timothy B. Schmit (Apr. 16 & 18); Becca Stevens (Apr. 17); Morgan James with Andy Allo (Apr. 19); Seth Walker & Edward David Anderson (Apr. 20); Dwele (Apr. 21, 7 & 10pm); Paula Cole (Apr. 22); Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (Apr. 23; 7 pm); Soul Spectacular! (Apr. 24); The Black Lillies (Apr. 25); Hal Ketchum with Darrin Bradbury (Apr. 26); Goapele (Apr. 27; 7 & 9:30pm); Suzy Bogguss (Apr. 28); Arsenio Hall (Apr. 29, 7 & 10pm); Eddie Jobson & Marc Bonilla (May 1); Whose Live Anyway? (May 2-3); Eilen Jewell with Leland Sundries (May 4); Don McLean (May 5, 7:30 & 10pm); Ray Wylie Hubbard (May 6); Paul Thorn Band (May 7); Denny Laine (May 8); Robby Krieger (May 9); Trout Steak Revival with The Railsplitters (May 10); Samantha Fish (May 11); The Blasters with The Delta Bombers (May 12); Robbie Fulks (May 13); Amy Helm & the Handsome Strangers with Connor Kennedy (May 14); Anat Cohen & Trio Brasileiro (May 15); Wanda Jackson (May 17); Taylor Hicks with Brett Wiscons (May 18); Donna the Buffalo (May 19); Christopher Cross (May 22); The Westies & Heather Horton (May 25); BoDeans (May 26; 7 & 10 pm); Emin & Friends (May 30); Corky Siegel's Chamber Blues featuring Marcella Detroit (Jun. 2); Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers (Jun. 4-6 & 8); Cathy Richardson Band with Maisie Bull (Jun. 9); John Waite (Jun. 11); Micky Dolenz: The Voice of the Monkees (Jun. 13-14); Garland Jeffreys (Jun. 15); Nancy & Beth (Jun. 16); Jean-Luc Ponty (Jun. 19-20); FrEddy Jones Band (Jul. 6); Dweezil Zappa (Jul. 7); Mac McAnally (Jul. 19); Rachelle Ferrell (Aug. 4; 7 & 10pm); Dave Barnes (Aug. 18) and HONEYHONEY (Oct. 4).
Opened in 2012, City Winery Chicago is a fully operational winery, restaurant with outdoor patio, concert hall and private event space located in the heart of the West Loop at 1200 W. Randolph, in the historic urban Fulton Market district. Once a refrigerated food distribution warehouse, the 1911 building has been transformed into a contemporary 33,000 square foot haven for those passionate about wine, music and culinary arts. The décor evokes the romance of being in wine country, from the exposed stainless steel fermenting tanks and French oak barrels, to the aroma of fermenting grapes. Chicago's only fully operation winery has produced dozens of in-house wines sourced from vineyards in California, Oregon, Washington, Argentina and Chile, including a Wine Enthusiast 90-point 2012 Bien Nacido Vineyard Reserve pinot noir. With more than 400 unique producers from around the world City Winery is recognized with 2014 and 2015 Best of Awards of Excellence "for having one of the most outstanding restaurant wine lists in the world" by Wine Spectator. The globally inspired, locally sourced, wine-focused food menu is conceived for pairing and sharing. The concert hall accommodates up to 300 guests, all seated at tables with complete beverage and dining service, ensuring a comfortable "listening room" experience enhanced by a state-of-the-art Meyer Sound system. Riedel is the official and exclusive provider of glassware, showing City Winery's commitment to enjoying quality wine in a quality vessel. American Airlines is the Official Airline and Virgin Hotels Chicago is the Official Hotel of City Winery. For more information, visit www.citywinery.com.
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