“Jarvis Square Music and Arts Festival” reported by Julia W. Rath

Saturday, July 19th turned out to be an incredible day for concerts and other outdoor events in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.

The annual Jarvis Square Music and Arts Festival was held outdoors on the 1500 block of Jarvis Avenue beginning at 1:00 p.m., featuring live music, local artisans, craft beer, and local food. In its fourteenth iteration, this event is a “must-see” for the neighborhood. This year’s musical lineup was as follows: From 2:00 to 4:00, Amy Kelly and the Beaver Moon Band performed on the mainstage, followed by She’s Crafty (an all-female band) from 6:00 to 7:00, and Finom from 8:00 to 10:00. All of these groups introduced the crowd to songs that they may or may not have heard before. This event serves as an example of how Jarvis Square Events and the Rogers Park Business Alliance are doing a fine job in working to make this part of the city become a hub for arts, crafts, and music.

Less than 1/2 mile away, the Rogers Park Presbyterian Church celebrated its 100th anniversary with food, an outdoor concert, magic tricks, and a yellow and black truck/bouncy house for the kids. Located on the corner of Greenview and Greenleaf Avenues, this longstanding fixture of the community hosted a nicely-attended block party after the letup of the morning’s torrential rain.

The highlight of the day, however, was a cozy concert held at Picnic, Wine, and Provisions, 7301 N. Sheridan Road, where singer/songwriter and guitarist Al Day teamed up with backup guitarist and musician extraordinaire Victor Sanders in a musical reunion event. Held in honor of the sixth anniversary of the wine bar, the concert took place from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in a small back room/banquet area. There an enthusiastic audience listened to original folk songs and popular music written by Day. Particularly engaging was the song that ended the first set “I’m Coming Home for You”, where the crowd was happily chiming in. The only exceptions to Day’s original repertoire were Mike Jordan’s charming and funny song “You’re a Bad Dog” and Leonard Cohen’s song “Bird on a Wire.” Vocalist Susan Abelson joined in to sing “The Rage of Angels”, a sad song about the first Gulf War and the bombing of the historical location of the Garden of Eden. Interspersed between songs were jokes and some back stories about the music, often having to do with the artists’ personal histories.

Liz Ahern, the proprietor of Picnic, Wine, and Provisions, has nicely turned this retail area in a vintage building into a community gathering place. That being said, the back room was somewhat too small for the lively crowd in attendance, and that was the reason my guest and I left early: so that we could surrender our tables to those actively drinking wine and ordering charcuterie trays. Note that there will be another show at the same venue on Friday, August 8th, featuring more of Abelson’s vocals.

In all, it was a great day of listening to various lyrics, textures, rhythms, and instruments which featured the talent and the passion of the performing artists—and which captured my ear and my imagination.