Jazz Festival to include final Chicago gig by Ramsey Lewis
The 2018 Chicago Jazz Festival will feature an expanded run and the final live Chicago performance by jazz icon Ramsey Lewis before his retirement, it was announced Wednesday by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
The 40th annual festival, which in years past has run Labor Day weekend in Millennium Park, will now run for 10 days — Aug. 24 through Sept. 2 — with free neighborhood venue shows beginning Aug. 24 ( schedule/ locations to be announced in June), and Pritzker Pavilion and Chicago Cultural Center performances Aug. 29- Sept. 2.
Other headliners include Kurt Elling, Dianne Reeves, Maceo Parker, the Orbert Davis Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, and a special tribute to Willie Pickens.
The 82- year- old Grammy- winning Lewis will headline the Pritzker Pavilion on Sunday Sept. 1. The jazz pianist, who grew up in Chicago’s Cabrini- Green neighborhood, has recorded more than 80 albums in his career and has won three Grammy Awards. His biggest hits include “The In Crowd,” “Hang on Sloopy” and “Wade in the Water.” Also a classically trained pianist, Lewis made his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia in 2015, performing the world premiere of his “Concerto for Jazz Trio and Orchestra.” He was honored with the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award in 2007. In 2002, Lewis was among the Chicagoans who briefly carried the Winter Olympics torch through its Chicago relay.
The complete lineup is online at suntimes. com/ entertainment.