March 17--Celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and the 100th anniversaries of Billy Strayhorn and Billie Holiday will be featured during the 37th annual Chicago Jazz Festival, Sept. 3-6 at the Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park.
The AACM tribute will spotlight the Experimental Band led by AACM co-founder Muhal Richard Abrams, with Henry Threadgill, Wadada Leo Smith, Amina Claudine Myers, George Lewis, Thurman Barker, Reggie Nicholson and others, Sept. 3.
A "Billy Strayhorn Centenary Celebration" will feature Jeff Lindberg's Chicago Jazz Orchestra playing new arrangements of Strayhorn repertoire, Sept. 4. Vocalist Jose James will pay homage to Holiday, also Sept. 4. Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater will perform Sept. 5. Henry Butler, Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9 will play Sept. 6. Visit chicagojazzfestival.us.
