On Thursday night, Amy and I headed downtown to Millennium Park to catch some music as part of the "Made in Chicago: World Class Jazz 2010" series. We did this last year as well and really enjoyed the night of quality tunes under the stars.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion at night
In effect, taking part in something like this is a lot like going to Ravina, with the suburban "snootiness factor" dialed down considerably. Since there is a large lawn at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, you can bring along a blanket and chairs, dinner, and some wine, and just enjoy some great jazz.
Steve apparently finds a program
The program for the evening was "Django: A Celebration featuring Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan". Basically, it was a 100th birthday celebration of Django Reinhardt, a guitarist who popularized the "Gypsy jazz" or "Hot Club" style (including the concept of "lead guitar" and backing "rhythm guitar"). Interestingly, I was introduced to this type of music years ago when building one of my collections for "Steve's 25 Days of Christmas Music". We featured a version of "Jingle Bells" performed in the Django-style and I was hooked with the swing-infused musical approach.
Quite a large turnout for the music (Can you spot the CNA building?)
We grabbed a bite to go from Epic Burger, a place we learned about during an end-of-rally party for EPIC, a non-profit founded by our friend Erin Huizenga. It was a similar event to one we've previously written about featuring lots of jumping! Epic Burger is known for their quality ingredients, natural beef, and fresh cut fries.
Amy approves of Epic Burger
We had some coupons sitting around so figured it would be a good stop on State Street before heading over for some music. We weren't disappointed in the food!
Pre-concert distractions
As for the night itself, it was quite fun. We killed some time by playing a few hands of Five Crowns, where Amy proceeded to beat me. Well, more like crush me. That game did not go well for me at all! I think I do better with Ticket to Ride
Spell Check anyone?
The evening also gave me a chance to check out the newly deployed Facebook Places application on my phone. I found it funny that the location name for Millennium Park was misspelled. I reported the page as "inaccurate" but that's all Facebook seemingly lets you do in situations like this. I'm not dropping it for Foursquare anytime soon, that's for sure.
Swing Gitan, via crappy digital zoom!
As for the music itself, it was quite awesome. They just kept bringing out more musicians and building the band larger as the night went on, layering different instruments and textures with guitar, violin, bass, harmonica, saxophone, piano, and even something called the Romanian dulcimer. It was a very enjoyable musical experience… plus it was free!
