Click
here or the image above for this photo of CJO Conductor and Artistic Director Jeff Lindberg.
Conductor and Artistic Director Jeff Lindberg is one of the foremost transcribers in jazz. As a result, the orchestra’s repertoire draws upon his vast library including the works of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter, Oliver Nelson, Ray Charles. Because the CJO has its own transcriptions of the original recordings, much of the music in its concerts cannot be heard anywhere else. The CJO also performs compositions and arrangements by CJO members, including Associate Artistic Director Charles Harrison.
The CJO served as the resident orchestra for the Kennedy Center Honors Supper Dance for more than 25 years. In 2006, the Orchestra performed before a sold-out audience at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina. The CJO has toured Europe twice, including performances in Italy, Spain, Denmark and Sweden. The Orchestra has performed with such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson, Louis Bellson, Herbie Hancock, Jon Faddis, Kurt Elling, Jack McDuff, Kenny Burrell, Roy Hargrove, Marquis Hill, Walter White, Joshua Redman and many more.
The orchestra performs at a wide variety of top venues across the Chicago area, from The Green Mill, to City Winery, to the Spertus Institute. Merit School of Music is the orchestra’s educational partner, including day-long clinics that culminate with students performing alongside members of the CJO, master classes led by renowned guest artists and open rehearsals. The CJO also provides complimentary concert tickets to underserved public school students and their families.
The CJO’s recordings include
Clark Terry and Jeff Lindberg’s Chicago Jazz Orchestra: George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess (Americana Music, 2004), nominated “Jazz Album of The Year” by the Jazz Journalist’s Association, and a rare “Five Star” rating by DownBeat magazine, which also named it one of the top recordings of the previous decade. It also made the annual “top CD’s” lists of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Times and Jazz Education Journal. To celebrate its 35
th anniversary in 2013, the CJO released
Burstin’ Out with vocalist Cyrille Aimée performing classic and original jazz arrangements. The CJO’s newest release is the 2017 compilation Live from Space, with live recordings from the summer of 2016.
CJO’s 2017-18 season finale, also at the Studebaker, is A CJO Salute to “Sinatra at the Sands” featuring Paul Marinaro, Saturday, May 12, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. Sit back and enjoy this live recreation of the famous 1966 “Sinatra at the Sands” performance, long considered to be the definitive live album of his career. The Chicago Tribune hailed CJO guest vocalist Paul Marinaro as having “one of the most beautiful vocal instruments in the business today.” Don’t miss this chance to travel back in time, one-night-only, to revisit a true classic.
The Chicago Jazz Orchestra’s 2017-18 season is supported by The Stare Fund, The MacArthur Funds for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Joseph B. Glossberg Foundation, Illinois Arts Council Agency, and The Saints of Chicago, with media sponsorship from WDCB 90.9 FM, DownBeat Magazine and Chicago Jazz Magazine.