🎧 When was Chicago house born?

DCASE's festival is back in Millennium Park [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( Daily Reader | April 10, 2024 Last Thursday, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events [announced the lineup and programming for this summer’s Chicago House Music Festival and Conference](. I was thrilled by the news that the festival will return to Millennium Park after DCASE moved it to the [Humboldt Park Boathouse lawn last summer](. The fest evolved out of a [mid-2010s House Music Party]( that DCASE hosted in Millennium Park during Memorial Day weekend. DCASE transformed that event into the single day, multistaged [Chicago House Music Festival in 2018](. The following year it became the Chicago House Music Conference and Festival, with [two days of musical performances at Millennium Park]( I witnessed the fervor for this fest when I saw [DJ Deeon]( Paul Johnson, and [Ron Trent]( perform as part of the 2018 debut. Millennium Park was more crowded than I’d seen it during many other music events—so crowded, in fact, that the park reached capacity before the sun set. Even before I took note of that, I appreciated that DCASE established an event celebrating one of this city’s legacy sounds, though I wish DCASE had done so years ago. I’ve been frustrated with how DCASE has managed the House Fest since the pandemic obliterated summer music programming in 2020. I loved that the Chicago House Music Conference and Festival presented an array of programming on Memorial Day weekend; I loved the idea of kicking off summer with a festival devoted to a style of music that reminds me of uninhibited joy and endless nights. But since Live Nation debuted[the Sueños Music Festival in nearby Grant Park in 2022]( the House Music Festival has bounced around proceeding calendars like a pinball. In 2022, DCASE held the festival and conference [in mid-September]( last year, it happened at the end of June. I’m thankful this year’s iteration is close enough to Memorial Day weekend, and I’m glad the festival is back in Millennium Park, mostly; DCASE scheduled the Gospel Music Festival for Saturday, June 1, and the House Music Festival will run in the park on Sunday, June 2. DCASE did put together [a fantastic lineup for a festival pre-party]( on June 1, but it’s unfortunately happening at Navy Pier. Nothing makes me question a government body’s method of honoring local culture like hosting a free concert in the middle of a tourist trap on a summer day. Regardless, the news of the Chicago House Festival’s grand return excited me so much I glossed over how DCASE is promoting the event. According to the city’s press release, this is part of a celebration for Chicago house’s 40th anniversary. Which I found curious. Yes, Jesse Saunders issued what’s widely believed to be the first house record, “On and On,” in 1984. But house existed long before that. Frankie Knuckles made his debut at the Warehouse in March 1977; the venue would go down in history as the birthplace of house music, and Frankie as the godfather of house music. The Warehouse closed in 1982, two years before “On and On” came out; by that point, the culture Frankie and a constellation of Chicago DJs and dancers incubated had spread throughout the city. The original Hot Mix 5 debuted on WBMX in 1981, the same year influential record store [Importes, Etc.]( opened in Printer’s Row; it served many of the biggest and best house DJs, and famously established a section devoted to the kind of music Frankie spun called “Warehouse music.” According to Marguerite Harrold’s forthcoming book, [Chicago House Music: Culture and Community]( 1981 is also the year Frankie noticed a Greater Grand Crossing juice bar called [the Bitter End]( with a sign labeled “We Play House Music.” I love that Chicago house’s origin is messy and challenging to pin down. All of these facets are critical and important to the emergence of house music as a vital local culture—and eventual global phenomenon. House heads will argue endlessly over these details, which I think is great; it’s one of many signs that shows me how much people care about house. This is sacred music for so many people in this city. And that’s also why I think it’s worthwhile asking: when do you think house music was born? ◈ [“‘Anger compels me forward’: Drive My Car composer Eiko Ishibashi on evil, experimentation and exploding genre,”]( by Ben Beaumont-Thomas (The Guardian) ◈ [“Sometimes We Explode: An oral history of Ratking’s So It Goes album release party.,”]( by Lei Takanashi (No Bells) ◈ [“Parannoul and the New Generation of Korean Indie,”]( by James Gui (Pitchfork) ◈ Serengeti, [Kenny Dennis IV]( ◈ Valebol, [Valebol]( ◈ jailbird Y, [Duality]( ◈ twin coast, [noie! noie! noie!]( [Paper or Plastic promise a brain-melting vintage book collection at Third Season pop-up]( Plus: Mystery ensemble Rapt in Plastic bring cinematic sounds to Rosehill Cemetery, and A-Trak headlines the latest Legend Conversation. by [Leor Galil]( | [Read more]( → [British dance-music legend LTJ Bukem brings cool, sexy vibes to Smart Bar]( by [Micco Caporale]( | [Read more]( → [DIY folk-blues enigma Jandek keeps it mysterious with a show at Elastic Arts]( by [Steve Krakow]( | [Read more]( → [Malian legend Oumou Sangaré brings her powerful voice and rhythms back to Chicago]( by [Catalina Maria Johnson]( | [Read more]( → Shermann “Dilla” Thomas hosts Best of Chicago, live at Lincoln Park Zoo! 🏆 Voted best activist, best [Chicago Instagram account to follow]( and best [Chicago TikTok]( 🏆 Stay tuned all week for more about performers, music, speakers, and a special emcee announcement! 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