In the heart of Bronzeville, on Chicago’s South Side, sits an imposing, red-brick building known to Chicagoans as The Forum. Today, the stained glass windows of this vast hall are boarded up and the entrance closed to the public as careful restoration work is conducted.
But in the early 1900s, this was the beating heart of this lively neighbourhood, Chicago’s ‘Black Metropolis’.
Debates were held, weekly shops carried out, and people danced ‘Lindy Hop’ to rapturous live music.
This was where some of the most iconic jazz musicians of all time cut their teeth – Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington among them, as well as Nat King Cole, who grew up nearby on South Vincennes Avenue, and to whom there is a dedicated mural in the neighbourhood.
The 1920s saw Chicago awash with musicians. Along with clubs such as the Savoy Ballroom and the Regal Theatre, The Forum became a key stop on the circuit.
New Orleans may be the ‘birthplace’ of jazz, but Chicago is where this genre really came of age.
And while Chicago has provided a spiritual home to many other forms of music – blues bloomed during the early 20th century and house found its feet on the dance floors – it’s jazz you can hear pulsating through the city today.
When I visit during a warm spring week, celebrations are already well underway for the annual Unesco International Day of Jazz on April 30.
Genie Harrison visits Chicago, America’s ‘Second City’, to explore its jazz roots and how the musical genre is still celebrated today
Genie visits one of Chicago’s 75 neighbourhoods, Bronzeville, where lots of jazz musicians once lived – including Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole, pictured
At The Forum Café, which is open to one side of the main building, musician Angel Bat Dawid hops between her clarinet and microphone, improvising melodies to a captivated crowd, and academic Dr Hareder McDowell, who grew up in the area, gives a brief talk on how jazz changed courtships in the early 20th century and beyond.
Afterwards, we embark en masse for a jazz-inspired walking tour, with stops including the home of Louis and Lil Armstrong, as well as poet Gwendolyn Brooks’ balconette apartment.
Then, downtown, I drop by the Chicago Art Institute for another dose of jazz.
This time it comes in the form of Henri Matisse’s 20 ‘Jazz’ cut-outs, which are on display here for the first time in their entirety.
Described by the artist as ‘chromatic and rhythmic improvisations’, it’s a joy to see them in real life – vivid and colourful, they almost dance off the walls to an imagined soundtrack of blues notes and rhythms. Chicago really is a go-to for this musical form.
Each September, over the Labor Day weekend, the city hosts a jazz festival in Millennium Park and along the lakefront, with performances of everything from contemporary to Chicago-style and New Orleans ‘Dixieland’ jazz.
Better still, it’s free for all to enjoy. But jazz in these parts is for the everyday, too. On the Friday night of my visit, we head to smart club-meets-restaurant Tortoise Supper Club, in the downtown Loop.
French artist Henri Matisse’s ‘Jazz: Rhythms in Colour’ cut outs are on display in their entirety for the first time at the Art Institute Chicago until June 1, 2026
As the clock strikes 8pm, the stage curtain is drawn and – as we are delivered delicious steaks with creamy mash – we’re treated to local-born Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis standards. It’s a sophisticated scene, with waiters in waistcoats, dolled-up diners… and great music. You don’t need deep pockets to enjoy Chicagoan jazz.
Over in Wicker Park, on Milwaukee Avenue, (the ‘hipster’ part of town, apparently) there are record stores and bars with live gigs aplenty. I opt for restaurant La Lunita for al pastor tacos (filled with spiced spitgrilled pork), stuffed burritos and cucumber margaritas, as the resident weekend DJ spins vinyl jazz tracks.
After our plates of warmed chocolate and lightly spiced churros are cleared, the tables are whisked away and diners become dancers for the remainder of the evening.
Jazz has always been a music of rebellion, and political resistance. It’s palpable here in the US’s ‘Second City’, where the streets are lined with anti-ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency) rhetoric while declarations of Democratic pride sit alongside murals celebrating the South Side’s musical heritage.
Nina Simone once said of the genre: ‘Jazz is not just a music, it’s a way of life’. Spend a few days in the Windy City and you’ll know what she meant.
TRAVEL FACTS
Return flights from £618 (ba.com). Doubles from £266 at the hip Hoxton hotel, where live jazz is played (thehoxton.com). Adult CityPASSes from £80, covering admission to three attractions including the Chicago Art Institute (citypass.com). More information: choosechicago.com.