Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶
For decades, generations of Mexican families in Chicago considered one mariachi essential to any great celebration — Mariachi Potosino.
From backyard parties and wedding receptions to Black Panther Party of Chicago marches and a former mayor’s birthday events, Mariachi Potosino was there for every important and often historic moment, my colleague Ambar Colón reports.
In today’s newsletter, we’re looking into how a new exhibition is preserving Mariachi Potosino’s legacy for future generations.
Plus, we’ve got reporting on Fulton River District’s newest luxury high-rise, a glimpse at some shows to catch at Chicago’s clubs this summer and more community news you need to know below. 👇
⏱️: A 7-minute read
— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)
TODAY’S TOP STORY
Mariachi Potosino gallery at Pilsen art museum honors the legacy of Chicago musicians
Reporting by Ambar Colón
Impact honored: More than 20 years since the death of Mariachi Potosino founder José Cruz Alba, his legacy comes to life in an exhibition at the National Museum of Mexican Art — from his birthplace in Ignacio Allende, Durango, Mexico, in 1918, to his life on the South Side of Chicago, where his love for music spread among the working-class immigrant communities searching for reminders of home in the bold brass, strings and vibrato of mariachi.
The last member: Amador Alba, 79, is Cruz Alba’s son and the last surviving member of Mariachi Potosino. Founding member Cesáreo Villalobos played trumpet until the group’s disbanding in 2019 and died in March. When Alba’s cousin and co-curator Roberto “Beto” Vargas told him about the idea for the exhibition, Alba admits that though “we did a lot of great things for the city,” he hadn’t considered the mariachi anything “out of the ordinary” — because, for him, it was just life. “But when [Beto] brought this together, and I look at it, even my kids couldn’t believe it,” he said.
Meet Mariachi Potosino: Members of Mariachi Potosino were blue-collar men: They were “braceros” employed in Chicago’s famous steel mills, working hard to create good lives for their families. On weekends, they’d trade their work uniforms for charro suits, guitars, trumpets and violins.
Key quote: “These were people that were part of the community fabric,” co-curator Rita Arias Jirasek said. “They were workers, they weren’t famous movie stars. They transformed themselves into these matinee idols.”
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
- Fulton River District grows: A new luxury high-rise building is welcoming its first residents — the first top-of-the-line apartment tower to open in the area in over a decade.
- Grindr plans Loop move: The LGBTQ+ dating app will open its largest global engineering hub in the Loop with plans to hire more software engineers and developers.
- JoJo’s Shakebar expands: The diner, known for its “decadent” milkshakes, plans to open new locations at Navy Pier and North Avenue Beach this week.
- Babe Ruth’s jersey up for auction: Heritage Auctions is offering Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot” jersey from Game 3 of the 1932 Yankees-Cubs World Series at Wrigley Field.
- 3 stars for ‘Death Becomes Her’: The musical retains the camp and amps up the irony of the movie on which it’s based, but some key elements get lost in translation, writes Catey Sullivan in a review for the Sun-Times.
SUMMER GUIDE 🌞
Beyond the stadium superstars, other great talents will make music in Chicago this summer
Reporting by Matt Moore and Mark Guarino | For WBEZ
The beaches are soon to officially open, baseball is here and, to no surprise, music will be everywhere this summer.
If you’re avoiding the massive touring shows, here are some alternative choices hitting Chicago’s clubs.
Kacy Hill
June 2, 9 p.m.
📍Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.
The singer-songwriter builds off the strength of her recent record, “BUG,” a collection of heartfelt, indie and R&B-leaning pop songs.
Tickets: $20+
Gerald McClendon
June 14, 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.
📍 Rosa’s Lounge, 3420 W. Armitage Ave.
McClendon is a world-traveled R&B singer who captures the classic sound of Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.
Tickets: $15+
Os Mutantes
July 7, 6 p.m.
📍Outset, 1675 N Elston Ave.
Influential Brazillian psych-rock legends will come to town and help christen West Town’s newest venue.
Tickets: $30
Hana Vu
July 17, 7 p.m.
📍Subterranean, 2011 W. North Ave.
Rock artist Hana Vu will bring her blend of rock, dream pop and post-punk to the famed Wicker Park venue.
Tickets: $18+
Charles McPherson Quartet
Aug. 1-4, 8 p.m.
📍Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Court
August is Charlie Parker month at the Jazz Showcase, and acclaimed alto saxophonist and composer Charles McPherson kicks it off.
Tickets: $20+
BRIGHT ONE ✨
‘The Enigmatist’ creator combines his passions for puzzlemaking and magic for immersive evening of theater
Reporting by Mary Houlihan | For the Sun-Times
David Kwong’s fascination with magic and puzzles was ignited at the age of 7, when he witnessed a magician perform a trick. He would eventually turn his childhood passion into a career.
Kwong, who also is a New York Times crossword constructor, brings “The Enigmatist,” his immersive experience of puzzles, cryptology and magic, to Chicago Shakespeare Theater for a monthlong run starting May 29.
Kwong says the theater is the perfect place to start the show because it involves not just a Chicago-area story but also a story about the search for hidden codes in Shakespeare’s plays. “The Enigmatist” was inspired by Kwong’s interest in a “fantastic, bizarre, bucolic estate” in west suburban Geneva called Riverbank, owned by textile magnate George Fabyan (1867-1936), a man obsessed with science and various bizarre interests who founded a private research laboratory.
After diving into research at Riverbank and the New York Public Library, Kwong created a historical tale that, he says, “mirrors my own journey through puzzles and games and secret codes and magic.”
The show has been called “a spin class for the frontal lobe.”
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
Today’s question is inspired by Neil Steinberg’s latest column, in which a recent trip on Boston’s T train line caused him to reflect on the CTA and Metra.
So we want to know:
Which city has the best public transportation system? Explain your answer.
Email us (please include your first and last name). To see the answers to this question, check our Morning Edition newsletter. Not subscribed to Morning Edition? Sign up here so you won’t miss a thing!
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Editor: Satchel Price
Newsletter reporter: Matt Moore
Copy editor: Chris Woldt
