Welcome to the playlist webpage for the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Chicago Jazz History course designed and taught by Dr. Michael Allemana in the UIC Jazz Studies Program directed by Dr. Michael Stryker. In this course, students spend the semester building playlists that represent a host of musical and social themes that we explored in the academic literature, in archival interviews, in numerous audiovisual media, through musical analysis, and through student performance. Below are chronicles of sound that tell stories of jazz in U.S. society and how social contexts shaped the stakes in the music. Themes students discuss include the struggles Black musicians faced and continue to face in segregated Chicago, how innovation and tradition have informed musicians’ output, the tensions before union integration within the Black Musicians’ Local 208 and of the struggles with the White Musicians’ Local 10 against the control of labor the White union wielded, and other social, historical, and musical topics. In sum, these playlists are a form of historiography—a sound-based creation of history that support and challenge conventional historical narratives about jazz in Chicago, and that tell stories about African American cultural history. Explore the students’ playlists and learn about unfamiliar music and musicians, important South Side venues, and the social and cultural contexts within which these musicians labored. You will be impressed by the students’ insights and the with the fascinating music they analyze and bring to light.
Fall 2024
Ben Abid (guitarist) “Chicago Jazz: Selections from 1922-1974”
Dexter Matthew (drums) “Development of Jazz in Chicago (1926-2022)”
Nate Mohill (guitarist) “Flight Time Into The Cosmos”
Julian Peinado (bassist) “Chicago Jazz: A Melting Pot of History and Sound”