Chicago Entertainment Guide – Blues, Jazz and Foreign Cinema

If you’re looking for a city with an exciting nightlife, filled with endless variety in movies, music and dancing, look no further; Chicago fits the bill. From big-time musical venues, to back-alley supper clubs this city practically has its own rhythm, and it’s called the Blues.

Chicago’s Blues Scene
Chicago is home to the Blues; just stop at any of the prominent Blues clubs scattered across the city and see for yourself (I counted 12, but there’s probably more). There’s B.L.U.E.S. on the north side, a small, but popular club that features well-known Blues performers every night of the year. Tuesday night at B.L.U.E.S. is “good neighbor night,” where Chicago residents with 60614, 60657 or 60610 zip codes get in for free. You can also find Blues artists, as well as performers from every other musical genre, at House of Blues Chicago, a national chain concert hall located on Dearborn Street. Other notable Chicago Blue’s clubs include Buddy Guy’s Legends, Blue Chicago, Blue Chicago on Clark, Rosa’s, Kingston Mines, and the Checkerboard Lounge. And don’t miss the annual Chicago Blues Festival. It’s fashionable, it’s fun, and it’s free. Held each June in Grant Park on Lake Michigan, the Chicago Blues Festival dates back more then twenty years and is the largest free admission Blues festival in the world. More than one million people attend yearly to hear a variety of Blues styles from local and nationally-known performers.

And All That Jazz
Cousin of the Blues, Jazz is also a popular music form in Chicago. Along with numerous jazz clubs around the downtown area, there is also an annual Jazz Festival, which offers a full week of free jazz concerts. Also held in Grant Park, this festival was started in 1979 by the Jazz Institute of Chicago and the Mayor’s Office of Special Events. The festival was originally meant to showcase local jazz musicians and performers. Today, it has grown into a pop culture event features jazz legends from around the world. For more information on the Blues and Jazz festivals, visit www.chicagotraveler.com.

Dinner and Dancing
If you’ve got a craving, Chicago will fill it. The city of Chicago is filled with restaurants that offer cuisine types for every letter of the alphabet including Afghan, African, American, Argentinean, Asian, Brazilian, Cajun, Creole, Chilean, Chinese, Columbian, Cuban, Dim Sum, Ethiopian, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indian, Indonesian, Irish, Jamaican, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Mediterranean, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Moroccan, Puerto Rican, Russian, Scandinavian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vegetarian, Venezuelan and Vietnamese.

To work off those dinner calories, there are over 75 different dance clubs and studios in the Chicago area. So whether you’re into Latin, Ballroom, Swing and Country Western, Chicago has a place for you. Club 720 is a Latin dance club that offers free Salsa lessons every Tuesday and Friday nights with a live band. It is also where the Chicago Tango Club meets Tuesday nights on the third floor.

Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival
Marketing themselves as, “this ain’t no Sundance,” the Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival offers a unique entertainment experience at an inexpensive price. The festival is part of Project Chicago, an organization founded in 2003 by a group of filmmakers devoted to providing an accessible forum for filmmakers all over the world to display their work. The 3-day festival plays at 3 Penny Cinema in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. Tickets are $6 and $3 for parking. $25 gets you an all-access pass to see all 75 film shorts. Go to www.projectchicago.com for festival dates.

By Stacy Hinojosa
www.grabrealestate.com