Millennium Park Summer Music Series

Monday, June 20

Femi Kuti & The Positive Force – Globally renowned Nigerian Afrobeat saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and activist. The eldest son of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo (Ransome) Kuti, he has expanded the genre's reach to embrace elements of punk, electro, and hip-hop. His new album 'Stop the Hate' features his son Made Kuti, carrying on the tradition once again.

HAT – Moroccan born artist presents audio-visual show that remixes traditional musicians from across the world onto a big screen, shaping them harmoniously into new electro beats.

Thursday, June 30

Abigail Washburn – A singing, songwriting, Illinois-born, Nashville-based clawhammer banjo player every bit as interested in the present and the future as she is in the past, and every bit as attuned to the global as she is to the local. Washburn pairs venerable folk elements with far-flung sounds, and the results feel both strangely familiar and unlike anything anybody’s ever heard before.

Samantha Crain – A Choctaw singer, songwriter, poet, producer, and musician from Oklahoma. She is a two-time Native American Music Award winner.

Thursday, July 14

CIVL (Chicago Independent Venue League) - Co-curated show, artists TBA.

Monday, July 18

DakhaBrakha – Global folk-fusion quartet from Kyiv, Ukraine that expands upon fundamental elements of sound and soul and combines them into a musical alchemy they call ‘ethno-chaos.’

Chicago Immigrant Orchestra - A 12-piece ensemble that consists of members of the Chicago immigrant community, representing musical traditions from all over the world. Originally founded in 1999 as part of DCASE’s first-ever Chicago World Music Festival.

Thursday, July 21

Jeff Tweedy - Best known as the founding member and leader of the Grammy Award-winning American rock band Wilco, Jeff Tweedy is one of contemporary music’s most accomplished songwriters, musicians, and performers.

The People's Music School – Led by professionally trained faculty, students receive intensive tuition-free music education, The People’s Music School transforms and empowers young lives. Serving students and their families in the Uptown, Albany Park, Back of the Yards, and Greater Grand Crossing neighborhoods.

Monday, July 25

Hip Hop: A Child of Blues, a special Blues to Hip Hop Commission with hiphop producer “Coolout Chris” and Blues drummer Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, creating a program musically onsite to connect blues to hip hop.

Kinsey: A Memoir by Roy Kinsey: Chicago born and raised, Roy Kinsey is a black, queer-identified, rapper, and librarian.

Monday, August 1

Ana Tijoux – The New York Times points to her as the Latin American response to Lauryn Hill. Her music dialogues to the sound of hip hop and Nueva Canción Chilena. A feminist and activist in her lyrics, she denounces social and cultural deficiencies.

Gabriel Garzón-Montano – First generation American to French and Colombian parents, Gabriel weaves tapestries of sound that defies genre.

Monday, August 8

GRAMMY Chicago Chapter Co-curated Show - Artists TBA

Thursday, August 11

CIMAFUNK - An Afro-Cuban rockstar who brings out the best in Cuban rhythms and traditions, and infusing sounds and styles from Africa and the U.S.

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Seven sons of jazz great Phil Cohran from the south side of Chicago carrying on his musical legacy, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble's musical style ranges from hip hop to jazz to funk and rock.

Thursday, August 18

Charles Stepney: Out of the Shadows, a tribute to “one of the underrated heroes of Chicago soul music,” Stepney contributed to the sounds of Muddy Waters, Minnie Riperton, Ramsey Lewis, Earth, Wind & Fire, and more. For this special event at Millennium Park, Stepney’s legacy and music will be brought to light, celebrated and performed by a new large ensemble called Rotary Connection 222 under the musical direction of bassist & bandleader Junius Paul, with creative direction by The Stepney Family and International Anthem.

Black Monument Ensemble, a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers making work that represents the richness and diversity of Black artistic excellence in Chicago.