Most people are familiar with the traditional diatonic harmonica’s long, wailing notes and chords on blues and country songs. Yet there’s another version of the instrument that allows the musician to tear through three octaves of sharps and flats. Once cherished in jazz, classical and folk circles, the chromatic harmonica is disappearing from the musical landscape, and Enrico Granafei is one its few remaining masters. Granafei was born and raised in the Italian region of Calabria region, and as a young man took an interest in guitar. “I enrolled in a classical guitar course at the conservatory,” Granafei says from …

New Orleans, 1919. The cobblestone streets are filled with fancy carriages as well as carts pushed by vendors, many of them Italian American, selling fresh fruit, shrimp and oysters. As gas lanterns light the nighttime streets of the French Quarter, a new music is being born. Part ragtime, part blues, part march music, it’s called jazz. Decked out in high-collared shirts and dark suits and with their hair slicked back, Cosimo and the Hot Coals transport audiences back to that magical time when a new sound was born in New Orleans. Based in Milan, the band regularly performs throughout Italy …

Joanie Pallatto and her husband, Bradley Parker-Sparrow, are primarily jazz artists, but their influences include bossa nova and other Latin sounds, world jazz, the Great American Songbook, and even a little pop and Beatles-inspired rock. All of these influences are present in Pallatto’s latest release, “Accidental Melody,” which features music and lyrics exclusively written by Pallatto. “Surrender” blossoms into a seven-minute introduction of the project’s theme — a philosophical look at life as one reaches middle age and beyond. This exploration continues in songs like “The Melody of You,” “Don’t Ever Look for Love,” “In the Middle of Life” and …

A half century at any job is something to celebrate, but Sam Gullo is marking five decades as the barber at one of Chicago’s most iconic buildings, the Civic Opera House, home of the Lyric Opera. Gullo and his family arrived in Chicago from Caccamo, Sicily, in 1961. “I came here with my father and brother,” Gullo says from his shop on the 15th floor of the historic building. “My father worked in Chicago for two years, then returned to Sicily to bring us back. We first settled at Ohio and Leavitt streets.” Gullo learned his trade from his older …

Embracing the Great American Songbook while fellow high schoolers were dancing to ’70s rock, Denise Tomasello has emerged as Chicago’s quintessential chanteuse. Known as “Chicago’s Queen of Cabaret,” Denise Tomasello has been entertaining audiences in many of the area’s finest venues for decades. After a nearly three-year hiatus from show business, this acclaimed chanteuse is once again taking to the stage with her stirring interpretations of the Great American Songbook. Tomasello is a native of Melrose Park, where she attended Proviso East High School. Her mother worked at Amling’s Flowerland, and her father was a delivery driver for the old …

A commercial artist for Fortune 500 companies early in his career, Carlo Beninati emerged as the go-to portrait painter of the previous century’s sports legends. While some may experience an occasional “brush with greatness” in their lives, artist Carlo Beninati has spent a lifetime “brushing greatness,” creating portraits of the legendary sports figures of the 20th century. Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mario Andretti, Muhammad Ali, Joe Montana, Walter Payton, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Derrick Jeter are among the countless luminaries Beninati has captured on canvas. Using bold colors and impressionistic backgrounds, Beninati depicts the prowess and charisma of his …

Lifting himself out of poverty by his own bootstraps, Tom Dreesen made it to the very pinnacle of standup comedy by staying in touch with his humble roots. Tom Dreesen grew up in a shack with no hot water, started working at age 10 and, as a young comedian, slept in a car for three weeks. In that very same lifetime, he appeared on “The Tonight Show” more than 60 times and spent 13 years riding in private jets and limousines as the opening act for Frank Sinatra. Like the Sinatra song “My Way,” Dreesen — who is half Irish and …

From arias to anthems, standards to stadium rock, Diva Montell takes almost any musical style and makes it her own. Blessed with a powerful soprano voice, Montell’s talents brought her to a crossroads early in her career when she had to weigh what was in her heart against the expectations of others. That journey began at birth. “Yes, I was born with the name Diva,” Montell says. “My mother, Concetta Ferreri, was an opera singer who performed with the Apollo Opera Company, The Midwest Opera and other venues,” she continues. “After she was married, she had four children but continued …

Three decades and 8,000 performances later, Tony Ocean continues to chart his own musical course, attracting legions of fans in the process. As Tony Ocean belted out the final notes of “My Way” to a roar of applause on May 29 at the Des Plaines Theatre, he surveyed his band onstage and his wife and family in the audience and, amid a shower of roses, wiped a tear from his eye. And why not? Ocean had just finished his 8,000th performance. There has been plenty of glitz along the way: a run in Las Vegas, a performance in Aruba, and …

One of the last great performers from the golden age of rock ’n’ roll, Dion DiMucci has recaptured the spotlight by embracing his musical roots. Dion DiMucci is a living legend known worldwide for hits that span decades and generations, like “Teenager in Love,” “Runaround Sue,” “The Wanderer” and “Abraham, Martin and John.” One of the last great performers from the golden age of rock ’n’ roll, DiMucci is still playing and recording at age 82. On his most recent release, “Stomping Ground,” the rock hall of famer is joined by Bruce Springsteen, Joe Bonamassa, Peter Frampton, Mark Knopfler, Billy …