Yesterday I performed again at what I'm calling the Acoustic Jam Session, at the Preston Bradley Center, truly one of Uptown Chicago's best kept secrets (the building, that is). If you don't know of this place and you're a musician in Chicago, you need to. Also known as the location for The Peoples Church, this is a gorgeous and huge historic space from the 1920s. Check out these pics:
Here's a shot from the outside on Lawrence St, just a few blocks in from Lake Michigan. From the side, it's not too much to look at. But the feux classical architecture of the front hints at what's inside.
So here it is! It seats about 1000 people and as you can imagine, the acoustics are pretty incredible.
So as I was saying, I'm trying to get musicians together to do a weekly acoustic jam session. Yes, there are lots of great jams happening around Chicago (including the "Space Jam" on Tuesdays at North Bar that I co-host. Sorry for shameless plug). So why attempt to add one more?
Well, I'm glad you asked! I think the unique thing about this one is its expansive atmosphere. I mean, check out the above pictures again. This epic auditorium just screams HISTORY! Like the Aragon Ballroom and Uptown Theater, the Preston Bradley Center was built during Uptown's golden era, the 1920s. And as you can imagine, every note anyone plays will sound good in this room with all of the natural reverb acoustics. Yes, I understand the appeal of performing in the intimacy of a small room. But I also love the idea of the opposite: a few musicians huddled together in the middle of a vast space, with sounds soaring across the cavernous ceiling and reverberating through the century-old wood.
Right now, this is mostly a grand (or not-so-grand, but I think really fun) idea of mine. As things are now, we're meeting around 11am, during a coffee hour after the 10am Peoples Church service ends. Lately its been mostly me and Joseph, the church accompanist. I'll do a bit of my beatbox sax stuff and then we'll play some stuff together, everything from ragtime to Bob Dylan, to Strauss.
This isn't a jazz jam. It's not a funk jam. It's not an open mic. It's none of those things, and it's all of those things (ok, sorry for the cliche line). But seriously, this jam can be whatever anyone who shows up wants it to be.
So bring your instrument, sip on some free coffee, and enjoy the sounds of Uptown's best kept secret. "Shhhhhh...."
Here's a shot from the outside on Lawrence St, just a few blocks in from Lake Michigan. From the side, it's not too much to look at. But the feux classical architecture of the front hints at what's inside.
So here it is! It seats about 1000 people and as you can imagine, the acoustics are pretty incredible.
So as I was saying, I'm trying to get musicians together to do a weekly acoustic jam session. Yes, there are lots of great jams happening around Chicago (including the "Space Jam" on Tuesdays at North Bar that I co-host. Sorry for shameless plug). So why attempt to add one more? Well, I'm glad you asked! I think the unique thing about this one is its expansive atmosphere. I mean, check out the above pictures again. This epic auditorium just screams HISTORY! Like the Aragon Ballroom and Uptown Theater, the Preston Bradley Center was built during Uptown's golden era, the 1920s. And as you can imagine, every note anyone plays will sound good in this room with all of the natural reverb acoustics. Yes, I understand the appeal of performing in the intimacy of a small room. But I also love the idea of the opposite: a few musicians huddled together in the middle of a vast space, with sounds soaring across the cavernous ceiling and reverberating through the century-old wood.
Right now, this is mostly a grand (or not-so-grand, but I think really fun) idea of mine. As things are now, we're meeting around 11am, during a coffee hour after the 10am Peoples Church service ends. Lately its been mostly me and Joseph, the church accompanist. I'll do a bit of my beatbox sax stuff and then we'll play some stuff together, everything from ragtime to Bob Dylan, to Strauss.
This isn't a jazz jam. It's not a funk jam. It's not an open mic. It's none of those things, and it's all of those things (ok, sorry for the cliche line). But seriously, this jam can be whatever anyone who shows up wants it to be.
So bring your instrument, sip on some free coffee, and enjoy the sounds of Uptown's best kept secret. "Shhhhhh...."