The house was hopping at Little Black Pearl in North Kenwood on April 28, as more than 100 jazz enthusiasts packed in to hear vocalist Nanette Frank and her “impeccable five-octave vocal range” during one of several prelude concerts to UNESCO’s International Jazz Day.
In the days leading up to and following the April 30 marquee concert at the Lyric Opera House, the distinctive sound of South Side jazz drew hundreds to neighborhood venues and clubs hosting satellite performances by local artists.
International Jazz Day, founded in 2011 by Hyde Park Academy graduate Herbie Hancock in partnership with UNESCO, is celebrated each year in a different city around the world.
The initiative celebrates jazz as a “force for peace, dialogue and mutual understanding,” according to UNESCO, which also describes the day as an opportunity “to foster greater appreciation – not only for music, but also for the contribution it can make to building more inclusive societies.”
UNESCO has faced political scrutiny in the United States in recent years. The Trump administration announced last year that the U.S. will withdraw from the organization at the end of 2026, citing policy disagreements, including its recognition of Palestine as a member state.
Against that backdrop, the performances across Chicago emphasized collaboration and a wide range of musical traditions.
Nanette Frank performs during a satellite International Jazz Day event at Little Black Pearl, 1060 E. 47th St., April 26, 2026.
Hancock and former University of Chicago Divinity School student baritone Kurt Elling served as the artistic directors of this year’s event, the 15th iteration.
While the Lyric Opera House concert drew global attention, performances across the South Side highlighted Chicago’s local jazz community and its continuing influence.
One of the first satellite concerts took place April 25 in Bronzeville, in the soon-to-be-opened performance space at the Forum Cafe, 318 E. 43rd St. There, clarinetist and vocalist Angel Bat Dawid conducted the audience itself, drawing out layered harmonies that created a deeply spiritual, almost cosmic sound.
Another early performance on April 27 at the Logan Center for the Arts featured Orbert Davis leading the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic in a reinterpretation of “Sketches of Spain,” the landmark collaboration between Miles Davis and Gil Evans.
According to the Chicago Jazz Alliance, Davis incorporated African and Middle Eastern instruments into the performance to create “a sound rooted in Spanish culture, blending classical aesthetics and jazz sensibility to reveal an emotional depth universally recognizable.”
At the May 1 matinee at the Logan Center, saxophonist Isaiah Collier and his band, The Chosen Few, performed a tribute to John Coltrane for a packed, notably young audience.
As Collier leaned into his saxophone, some audience members leaned forward, pointing curiously at a set of bar chimes resting on a kaffiyeh-covered table at the front of the stage. Moments later, he reached out and brushed the chimes, adding a shimmering texture to the performance.
Collier has described his approach to music as a “sonic time machine,” telling UChicago Presents that “you can’t really put a time or destination on it.”
Collier’s audience wasn’t the only group to get an intimate interaction with a jazz musician. Hyde Park Academy students also got the chance to engage with jazz’s legacy when Hancock visited his alma mater.
“It was on this stage that I first discovered my passion for jazz,” Hancock told students, gesturing toward the auditorium. “It was right around here in the audience, a moment that opened my mind.”
The celebration culminated April 30 at the Lyric Opera House, where Hancock invited dozens of performers — including Buddy Guy, Dianne Reeves, Béla Fleck, Dee Dee Bridgewater and others — to join him onstage for a rendition of “Imagine” by John Lennon.
“In jazz, we listen to one another, we respond, we lift each other up higher, higher and higher,” Hancock said. “That higher spirit, that interconnection, that interdependence, that shared responsibility, is what makes us stronger, happier and more human.”
As the concert closed, Hancock urged the audience to see imagination as something collective — an idea that grows when shared and connects people across cultures.
“As we prepare to sing side by side, let us imagine that possibility, not just as a dream, no, but as something we can create together, because every change begins with one idea, imagination,” Hancock said.
Angel Bat Dawid performs in the basement of the soon-to-be-opened Forum Cafe, 318 E. 43rd St., during a satellite International Jazz Day event April 25, 2026.
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