Jazz Comes To Rogers Park

I was thrilled to learn just a few weeks ago that some arts-minded Chicago entrepreneurs are about to breathe new life into an abandoned movie theater (and one-time vaudeville house) here in Rogers Park by reopening it this September as a state-of-the-art jazz venue.

From the looks of of its website, The Morse Theatre will be quite a place. I look forward to seeing a lot of great shows there.

Of course, operating a profitable jazz venue, even in a city like Chicago, is a mighty tough undertaking. I'd run out of fingers and toes in a hurry if I tried to count the number of jazz clubs that have opened and closed since I started going out to hear the music. (If you're scoring at home that would be since July 1980, when I spent my sixteenth birthday -- with my long-time friend and bandmate Neal Connors -- listening to Dexter Gordon at the now-shuttered Jazz Showcase.)

I wish all the best to Andy McGhee, Devin McGhee, and William Kerpan, the local entrepreneurs who have spent more than three years trying to bring their vision to life.