Esperanza Spalding at the Chicago Jazz Festival

OPENING NIGHT at the CHICAGO JAZZ FESTIVAL

The festival’s first night will be headlined by Esperanza Spalding. A five-time Grammy winner, Spalding was selected by Nobel Laureate Barack Obama to be the single artist performing in his honor at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 2009. Legend has it that her musical career began at five, when she heard a Beethoven sonata then walked to the piano and reproduced it. Although she’s mastered violin, piano, and clarinet, Spalding first gained fame playing the upright double bass, an uncommon choice. Today she’s best known for her vocals, which have been described by New York Times jazz writer Ben Ratliff as “light and high, up in Blossom Dearie’s pitch range, and she can sing quietly, almost in a daydream.” Performing everything from scat to standards to jazzy R&B, her appearance at the Chicago Jazz Festival is a rare opportunity to see this generational talent in an open festival setting.

Henry Johnson will be performing at 6:30 p.m. and Ms. Spalding's performance will begin at 7:45 p.m.

We’ll meet at 6:00 p.m. and head to the pavilion seating 10 minutes later. Bring a sandwich, salad, and/or beverage to enjoy in your seat before the 6:30 p.m. performance starts.

Our meeting location will be just past the Randolph St. Pritzker Pavilion entrance/security bag check. IMPORTANT: walk EAST on Randolph Street (up the incline) from Michigan Avenue and ENTER at the Randolph Street Pavilion entrance on the right.

$1.00 will be collected from each attendee to pay for MeetUp expenses.