I signed up for Yelp before heading off to Chicago because I wanted to go to a Jazz and/or Blues bar, which Chicago is famous for, but had no idea where to go. Yelp helped me narrow it down to about 5 destinations and we ended up at the Green Mill.
We showed up around 10, paid our $12 cover, and got in. It was busy as in standing-room-only busy. Actually it was stand in the walkway blocking the waitresses busy. We showed up in to hear the end of their second set, and I guess it was because of the environment but I didn’t pay attention to the music. Inside, the Green Mill is quite small; kind of like a neighborhood corner store size, but it was decorated in a grand old 30s or 40s style. If you imagine a jazz bar where Chicago gangsters hang out, this would be what it would look like. Did I mention it was crowded?
After their set finished, surprisingly a lot of people left and we scored “orchestra” seats right at the front. The band was the Ari Brown Quartet (which is actually 5 instruments: sax, piano, bass, drums and…congos). I think they’re kind of like the house band. We lucked out, not just because of our seats, but they started off with their rendition of Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World. Their arrangement had a balance of the well-known melody and jazz improvisation which I quite enjoyed. They played a couple of other songs afterwards which were not as spectacular, although Ari Brown ended their set by playing the sax and a brass clarinet at the same time.
Looking back, I’m curious as to whether this experience could have been better. I had only one opportunity to see jazz or blues, and picked this jazz. Maybe I might have enjoyed Blues more because I for sure don’t know enough to appreciate jazz. What was interesting is that I started reading up on the Green Mill after I came back and it has a colourful history. It was partially owned by Jack McGurn, who gained his share after he cut off the tongue of a regular performer in order to prevent him from going to work at another lounge. McGurn was also a right-hand man of Al Capone’s!
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