Chicago Nights in Jazz Rhythm

Transcription (provided by the author):

Welcome to the ELI’s Finding Chicago Global Perspectives Podcast Series for AEPP 2025. I’m your host, Yujin Li, and I’m currently enrolled in the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.

What does Chicago sound like at night? For me, the answer is jazz.

On the 29th of August, I went to Millennium Park to watch the Chicago Jazz Festival. By the time I arrived, it was already late in the evening. The stage lights were glowing, and the sound of the saxophone carried through the park.

Right in front of the stage, there were rows of seats, but most people chose the grass lawn. Families, groups of friends, and couples sat on picnic blankets. Many had brought wine, snacks, even full baskets of food. Children were chasing each other, adults were chatting, and everyone looked relaxed, as if the park had turned into their shared living room.

That night, Monty Alexander, a famous jazz pianist, was performing. His fingers moved quickly across the keys, sometimes soft and gentle, sometimes strong and powerful. Behind him, the drums added a steady heartbeat. The saxophone rose and fell like another voice, almost like it was talking. The music felt alive, always changing, almost as if the band was telling a story without words. The crowd reacted right away. People swayed with the rhythm, clapped their hands, or simply closed their eyes and smiled.

For me, the most striking part was not only the music, but the feeling of community. Strangers sitting side by side, people from different generations and backgrounds, all connected by the sound. And because this was my first time at a jazz festival, the feeling was even stronger. I had listened to jazz recordings before, but experiencing it live, with the crowd responding in real time, made me realize why people say jazz is about connection. In that moment, it felt like the whole city was inside the music.

But jazz in Chicago is not just one night in the park. It has a long and powerful history here.

In the early 20th century, during the Great Migration, many African Americans moved from the South to Chicago, looking for jobs, safety, and new opportunities. They brought their culture, traditions and music. Jazz was one of the most important parts of that journey.

In Chicago, the music began to change. Musicians played in bigger bands, in nightclubs, and on the radio. This gave birth to what people now call the “Chicago style.” It was faster, freer, and placed more focus on improvisation. In New Orleans, jazz was more about everyone playing together. But in Chicago, soloists had more chances to step forward. The trumpet, the piano and the saxophone could each take the lead for a moment. It felt like the music was saying you can stand out, but you are still part of the group.

The music was not only entertainment—it carried stories of struggle and resilience, but also creativity and hope. Some songs carried the pain of leaving home. Others had the excitement of starting fresh. And sometimes you could hear both in the same piece. That mix of sadness and joy made the music feel so real, so human.

Jazz is powerful because it’s improvised. It feels alive. Every performance is different, and the strong rhythm makes people want to move together. Different instruments join into one song, showing how harmony can grow from diversity.

And when I think about it, that’s really like Chicago. The city is diverse, resilient, and always reinventing itself. Jazz and Chicago mirror each other: both are creative, both are shaped by migration, and both have turned struggles into strength.

Sometimes I wonder, what if jazz had never come to Chicago? Without it, the city’s nights might feel quieter and less connected. Perhaps Chicago would be seen only as an industrial city, known for steel and railroads rather than culture. Maybe the world would not think of Chicago as a creative center, and the city might not be as proud of its diversity today. Even its festivals and public image would feel incomplete.

When I think back to that night in Millennium Park, I remember people of all kinds, including Black, White, Hispanic, and Asian, all sharing the same rhythm. That evening reminded me that jazz is more than music. It is community. In Chicago, jazz became a way for people to express themselves, to find connection, and to reinvent the city’s identity again and again.

To me, jazz is not only Chicago’s soundtrack. It is the city’s pulse at night. If you want to know this place, do not just look up at the skyline. Listen in: tss tss tss, ba-da-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.

Maybe that is the larger note. Life works like jazz. We arrive from different places. We improvise. We share a rhythm. Harmony follows. Louis Armstrong said it plain: “What we play is life.”

Thank you for listening to this episode of the ELI’s Finding Chicago Global Perspectives Podcast Series. Until next time, keep listening, and keep discovering Chicago’s rhythm!