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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
RELEASE: Falling for the Loop campaign shifts Chicago Loop Alliance programming to celebration of arts and culture
Sundays on State, new Loop bar crawl and monthlong activation enliven State Street and the Loop CHICAGO, June 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chicago Loop Alliance is announcing programming for the fall season under the campaign, Falling for the Loop, positioning the month of October as a celebration of arts and culture. Sundays on State, returns for its fifth year on September 7 and October 5; a niche urban planning and design film festival, Better Cities Film Festival on October 9-11; LUMA8's 11th Annual Arts in the Dark Parade on October 18; a new Lurking in the Loop bar crawl at 14 Loop bars and restaurants on October 25; and Skeletons on State, an interactive display of 20 oversized skeletons showcasing iconic Chicago and Loop institutions from October 1-November 3. 'Based on the success of Sundays on State, and the power of arts and culture on both the Loop's economy and its recovery, we felt compelled to expand our programming to uplift Chicago's plethora of cultural assets,' said Michael Edwards, President and CEO of Chicago Loop Alliance. 'For 20 years, our programming has celebrated the city's iconic culture with award-winning initiatives like Sundays on State, and we are excited to bolster that momentum with new events and programs, while supporting major existing events that enliven the Loop, like the Chicago Marathon; Open House Chicago; and State Street's very own, Arts in the Dark Parade.' Sundays on StateSundays on State is free and open to the public and will take place this year on State Street from Randolph to Jackson. Those who register to attend Sundays on State are automatically entered for a chance to win a $1,000 Loop staycation package. Learn more and register for free at Applications for small businesses, local entrepreneurs, artists, non-profits, and food vendors to participate in Sundays on State are open now through June 16. Sundays on State performers include Collaboraction, Chicago Latin Groove Band, DLOW and Malik, Good Girls DJs, Matt Ulery, The Joffrey Ballet, O'Mys, The Rust Riders, The Strangers, and SKIRT The Band. To apply for participation, visit Sundays on State is a project of Chicago Loop Alliance in partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Chicago Loop Alliance Foundation and Special Service Area #1-2015. Supporting sponsors are Allstate Insurance Company, Macy's and Target. The event sponsor is Block 37. Community sponsors are Faegre Drinker, Flyover, Millennium Garages, and Walgreens. Other sponsorship options are still available for interested businesses. Lurking in the LoopLurking in the Loop is free and open to the public, and serves as the Loop's official Halloween bar crawl, exploring nearly a dozen unique bars. The event takes place on October 25 from 8 p.m.-midnight. Participating establishments include Bandol Brasserie, Bar Sotto, Brando's Speakeasy, Elephant & Castle, Emerald Loop Bar & Grill, Exchequer Pub, Hoyt's Royal Sonesta Chicago, Industry Ales, Land & Lake Kitchen, Palmer House Hilton, Petterino's and The Berghoff Restaurant & Adams Street Brewery. Registration is encouraged. Learn more and register for free at Skeletons on StateSkeletons on State is free and open to the public, activating various State Street planters with 12-ft. skeletons adorned with tributes to local Loop and Chicago institutions. Chicagoans and visitors are encouraged to interact with the initiative and share their experiences on social media by tagging Chicago Loop Alliance and #SkeletonsonState. About Falling for the LoopFalling for the Loop is a monthlong series of events that celebrates and uplifts the city's iconic arts organizations and cultural institutions, supports the Loop's vital commerce and fosters community with Chicago's 77 neighborhoods and beyond. About Sundays on StateThe internationally acclaimed, award-winning event series, Sundays on State, transforms Chicago's most iconic street, State Street, when it closes to vehicular traffic on select dates each summer. Neighbors from every Chicago community and beyond unite for a free, interactive block party, while safely enjoying art, culture, active recreation, food, drinks, shopping, and local attractions in the heart of everyone's neighborhood – the Loop. Chicago Loop Alliance's Sundays on State series accelerates the economic recovery, unites the community, and creates joy! Sundays on State events have welcomed over one million people to Chicago's most iconic street. #SundaysOnState About Chicago Loop AllianceChicago Loop Alliance (CLA)'s leads the community by creating and supporting inclusive programs that attract people and investment to the Loop. CLA is a membership organization as well as the sole service provider for Special Service Area #1-2015, and the Chicago Loop Alliance Foundation produces free public art projects and events. For more information, visit MEDIA: Photos and video available for download SOCIAL: Instagram: @loopchicago Facebook: @ChicagoLoopAlliance Twitter: @ChiLoopAlliance LinkedIn: @Chicago-Loop-Alliance TikTok: @loopchicago CONTACT: Ariella Gibson Chicago Loop Alliance 7085434002 ariella@
Chicago Tribune
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Jazz bassist Matt Ulery returns to his roots with ‘Mother Harp' and a release concert at Hungry Brain
Music pours out of Matt Ulery. Since moving to Chicago 25 years ago, the Rockford-born bassist, 43, has put out 15 albums of originals, a body of work that defies generalization. He's composed for jazz bands, classical ensembles and even berimbau, a single-stringed Afro-Brazilian instrument best known for accompanying capoeira matches. In 2020's 'Pollinator' — a 1920s-inspired brass band release — he even traded his upright for a sousaphone, an instrument he hadn't played since high school. But in an average month, Ulery isn't only playing his own music. Like so many working musicians, he's stringing things together. He estimates that, on average, he performs in the city nightly, mostly as a sideman. When we meet up at a coffee shop in Lincoln Square, Ulery has his bass in tow, returning from a day of teaching at Northeastern Illinois University. He juggles that job with other teaching posts at Loyola and Roosevelt University, the latter his alma mater. So, when on Earth does all that composing happen? 'I don't have an issue with finding the muse,' he admits, almost sheepishly. 'If you're always open to a little spark of an idea, you can capture that spark. The hard part is sitting down and doing the work.' A residency this month at Hungry Brain gives Ulery a platform for his uncorkable creativity. Ulery brings four different groups to the West Lakeview venue, including his Pollinator band and sprawling Nonet. He wraps the residency with his new Mother Harp band, a thrashing union of punk rock, jazz and folk. The group releases a self-titled album the same day on Ulery's Woolgathering Records label. 'Mother Harp' — taking its name from a piece Ulery composed in 2019 — is Ulery's most dramatic pivot since 'Pollinator.' Though Ulery can often be spotted around town on electric bass, 'Mother Harp' marks the first time he's played on the instrument in any of his releases as a bandleader. The album's searing, adrenaline-laced sound is new to his recorded output so far. 'It's like extremely melodic punk,' Ulery says, 'and electric bass is a higher-energy than upright bass. It just is. You can turn it louder and it sounds better instead of worse.' Ulery acknowledges it's a little ironic that it took him so long to record an album on bass guitar. The instrument has been part of his life far longer than the double bass, with roots in his childhood hobby of plucking out songs on his father's old acoustic guitar. Thing was, the guitar was missing all its strings except the lowest two. 'Someone was like, 'Oh, you're actually playing the bass notes. Try this (bass guitar),'' Ulery recalls. Later, as a teenager, Ulery led what he calls 'parallel musical lives.' Some nights he sat in with old-time swing bands, playing with a fake ID; others, he played in ska-punk band with friends, like any '90s kid worth his salt. You won't find ska rhythms in 'Mother Harp,' but you will find its distinctive horn-driven, rhythmic spirit. Those rhythms tend to be flowing yet asymmetrical — another ghost from Ulery's musical past. For much of the 2000s, Ulery played in Eastern Blok, a quartet which infused classical and jazz with Balkan folk music. For example, the melody of 'Five Pocket,' off 'Mother Harp,' seems to bounce along inexhaustibly. Though the groove underneath it is lopsided, the tune never stumbles. 'When people say 'odd meter,' I used to think, What's so odd about it? But it's just an odd number,' Ulery says. 'Playing in Eastern Blok, I really developed a more intimate understanding of the odd-meter folk dances.' From an outsider's perspective, 'Mother Harp' seems to fuse two very different facets of Ulery's musical life. Ulery himself doesn't see it that way. 'What was my folk music, growing up as a white suburban kid? It was punk and third-wave ska,' he says. 'I was a teenage dancer, going to shows with friends, moshing or skanking. It's all there.' Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer.
