Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

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The Chicago White Sox won what was a must-win game for them on Sunday. Where they already are in the standings, they could not afford to be swept by the Baltimore Orioles at home. Dylan Cease was on the mound for the White Sox in this one and he was brilliant.

Brilliant might actually be an understatement. It was probably the best performance of his career which is saying something because he has been great lately. In this win, he went 7.0 innings pitched with four hits, one earned run against, one walk, and 13 strikeouts (a career-high).

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The Chicago Cubs are having a dreadful season. They didn’t come in with any big playoff hopes or anything like that but some believed that they would at least be a respectable team. Unfortunately, that hasn’t even been close to the case.

In the month of June, they have exactly seven wins so far out of 24 games. That is as disgusting as you can get in Major Lague Baseball. They sit at 28-45 which is good for the fifth-worst record in all of baseball. That is only going to get worse as they trade away the good players they have left.

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Since 2018, the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective has made waves in town by resurrecting the stylish grooves of the postbop era, which began in the late 1950s—nationally, the sound was shaped by the likes of the Jazz Crusaders, Cannonball Adderley, and Jimmy Smith, and in Chicago the Rush Street club scene was at its height. On previous records the sextet has invited collaborators such as New Orleans trumpet master Nicholas Payton and vocalist Raul Midón, but those were baby steps compared to what the group has done for its recent third album, On the Way to Be Free (JMarq)—mighty Chicago jazz vocalist Dee Alexander is the collective’s full-time front woman. Tenor saxophonist John Fournier has written original songs that set Alexander in postbop’s prime era without feeling like historic exercises. “The Man Is Coming Back,” a seductive mood piece, imagines an insurrection (“Get your pitchfork / Out of the barn / Light the torches / Sound the alarm”) that snaps to life at the song’s hard-funk break. These songs have space and light to them, and the title cut showcases the group’s earthy dynamic. “Mama Are We There Yet?” features a gang vocal driving atop a snappy syncopated groove and the elastic soloing of guitarist Larry Brown Jr. The range of these songs—the nighttime neosoul of “Crazy Wrong,” the Latin-tinged groove of “Carry Me,” layered with breezy soloing by Brown and trumpeter Marques Carroll—showcases Alexander’s versatility and strengths. Judging by its title, the instrumental “Behind the Crusaders” is presumably a tribute to the Jazz Crusaders, a multifaceted group that in the 1960s and 1970s erased all sorts of genre boundaries. Sure enough, the song follows in those footsteps—its melodic power and stylish group dynamics are what make the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective a prime portal for listeners who don’t limit their music by category but are driven simply by the groove. Following this appearance at the FitzGerald’s American Music Festival, the group will perform at the Jazz Showcase on August 24.

Chicago Soul Jazz Collective with Dee Alexander Part of day two of the American Music Festival, which runs Fri 7/1 through Mon 7/4. The Rebirth Brass Band headlines the outdoor main stage; Nelson Street Revival closes out the nightclub stage inside FitzGerald’s; the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective with Dee Alexander headlines the Sidebar stage. The day’s other performers are Marshall Crenshaw, Michael McDermott, Daddy Long Legs, Lilly Hiatt, Chicago Farmer & the Fieldnotes, Eilen Jewell, Tre Burt, Fox Crossing Stringband, Sarah Borges, Jonah Tolchin, the Claudettes, Los Gallos, the Joel Paterson Band, Terry White & the Loaded Dice, and Donna Herula. Sat 7/2, 9:30 PM (music begins at 1 PM), Sidebar stage, FitzGerald’s, 6615 Roosevelt, Berwyn, $50 per day, all ages

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Since 2018, the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective has made waves in town by resurrecting the stylish grooves of the postbop era, which began in the late 1950s—nationally, the sound was shaped by the likes of the Jazz Crusaders, Cannonball Adderley, and Jimmy Smith, and in Chicago the Rush Street club scene was at its height. On previous records the sextet has invited collaborators such as New Orleans trumpet master Nicholas Payton and vocalist Raul Midón, but those were baby steps compared to what the group has done for its recent third album, On the Way to Be Free (JMarq)—mighty Chicago jazz vocalist Dee Alexander is the collective’s full-time front woman. Tenor saxophonist John Fournier has written original songs that set Alexander in postbop’s prime era without feeling like historic exercises. “The Man Is Coming Back,” a seductive mood piece, imagines an insurrection (“Get your pitchfork / Out of the barn / Light the torches / Sound the alarm”) that snaps to life at the song’s hard-funk break. These songs have space and light to them, and the title cut showcases the group’s earthy dynamic. “Mama Are We There Yet?” features a gang vocal driving atop a snappy syncopated groove and the elastic soloing of guitarist Larry Brown Jr. The range of these songs—the nighttime neosoul of “Crazy Wrong,” the Latin-tinged groove of “Carry Me,” layered with breezy soloing by Brown and trumpeter Marques Carroll—showcases Alexander’s versatility and strengths. Judging by its title, the instrumental “Behind the Crusaders” is presumably a tribute to the Jazz Crusaders, a multifaceted group that in the 1960s and 1970s erased all sorts of genre boundaries. Sure enough, the song follows in those footsteps—its melodic power and stylish group dynamics are what make the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective a prime portal for listeners who don’t limit their music by category but are driven simply by the groove. Following this appearance at the FitzGerald’s American Music Festival, the group will perform at the Jazz Showcase on August 24.

Chicago Soul Jazz Collective with Dee Alexander Part of day two of the American Music Festival, which runs Fri 7/1 through Mon 7/4. The Rebirth Brass Band headlines the outdoor main stage; Nelson Street Revival closes out the nightclub stage inside FitzGerald’s; the Chicago Soul Jazz Collective with Dee Alexander headlines the Sidebar stage. The day’s other performers are Marshall Crenshaw, Michael McDermott, Daddy Long Legs, Lilly Hiatt, Chicago Farmer & the Fieldnotes, Eilen Jewell, Tre Burt, Fox Crossing Stringband, Sarah Borges, Jonah Tolchin, the Claudettes, Los Gallos, the Joel Paterson Band, Terry White & the Loaded Dice, and Donna Herula. Sat 7/2, 9:30 PM (music begins at 1 PM), Sidebar stage, FitzGerald’s, 6615 Roosevelt, Berwyn, $50 per day, all ages

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Just four days from now, the Chicago Bulls and rest of the NBA will enter the much anticipated free agency period of the offseason.

On June 30, it’s presumed that the free agency period will begin at 6PM ET, although no official time has been set just yet — which seems a bit different than recent years. Still, you can expect deals to begin getting announced either the night of June 30 or morning of July 1.

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