Chuck Berry

In the wake of causing a minor firestorm in the online jazz community last month with a playful video decrying the influence of "jazz nerds," drummer Jason Marsalis e-mailed me a clarification this morning that both expands on the definition,......

For some, the Fourth of July is a good opportunity to re-read the Declaration of Independence, or the writings of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams or George Washington to reacquaint themselves with the spirit behind the nation’s founding. The Hootenanny...

3.5 stars (out of 4) Memory, childhood, home. These are big subjects that have obsessed novelists, movie makers, playwrights and songwriters for decades, if not centuries. Now the Arcade Fire, a band not known for thinking small, tackles them all......

It's tax season, and Monday is the 100th anniversary of Illinois' ratification of the 16th Amendment, which allowed the U.S. income tax. Please itemize these 10 tax facts: 1. Did 7 million American children suddenly disappear in 1987? On paper, it seemed...

Glendale-based musician Michael Quest, whose fourth album, "The Good Spell," debuted in May, describes his work as blues rock, with a touch of country. "Honestly, I thought the coolest thing I could do in life was play music," Quest said as he sat in...

Howard and the White Boys 2009 Kane County Oktoberfest September 25-27 Kane County Fairgrounds 525 South Randall Road St.Charles www.kanecountyoktoberfest.com Appearing Friday at 8:30 p.m. It's been six years since Chicago blues veterans Howard & the...

Steve, Johnnie and listeners submit their suggestions for great summer reads. A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel Coming Attractions by Fannie Flagg The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum Crashing Through by Robert Kurson Dancing Bear: An Inside Look...

It was surely only a matter of time. The noisy partisan divide that seems to infect everything in America today -- from what health care plan you want to what car you drive -- has surfaced again. As soon as......

John Hiatt's music has frequently had issues of family at or near the core. That's true of his latest album, but the perspective reaches beyond primary relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, to take on bigger questions of......

The setting at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival can do wonders for certain acts. On a pristine green desert polo field surrounded by palm trees, Coachella is California at its most storybook. She & Him, the pairing of......

Roll out the red carpet, because Monday was Movie Night in the “Dancing With the Stars” ballroom. Each couple got to perform to a well-known song from a film, and the band trotted out famous numbers from movies including “Risky......

The bounty of new holiday albums is impressive -- little else is selling, the thinking seems to be, so let's see if Santa and Rudolph can salvage the end of the year. This year's batch is suitably diverse, many hurriedly assembled as a seasonal bonus...