The warm smell of garlic was in the air, olive oil flowed through the street, the sounds of Sinatra were on the lips of tens of thousands, and the 2025 edition of the Taylor Street Little Italy Festa is now in the record books. So many folks with roots in Chicago’s original Little Italy came back to the old neighborhood to celebrate all things Italian and Italian American. Five stages of entertainment included The Bronx Wanderers from Las Vegas; Tricia Danieli from Miami; Vanessa Racci from New York City; Eros—The Tenor from Cinque Terre; America’s Tenor Christopher Macchio; Mario Bosco …

Nearly half a century after “I Just Wanna Stop” skyrocketed to No. 4 on the U.S. charts, Gino Vannelli’s still wowing audiences and collaborating with fellow music legends. In August of 1978, the Pop/Adult Contemporary hit “I Just Wanna Stop” blasted onto the radio airwaves, launching a musical journey for Gino Vannelli that continues to excite live audiences to this day. Gino was born in Montreal to Italian parents who immigrated to Canada to escape the daunting era of World War II Italy. Many of the Italian traditions he still practices were brought over by his grandparents from Molise and …

Steve Augeri’s eight years at the helm of one of rock’s most successful groups was but a single stop in an ongoing musical sojourn that has spanned more than three decades. From 1977-1987, the rock band Journey emerged as one of the most popular and commercially successful musical acts in history. “Don’t Stop Believin,’” “Open Arms,” “Faithfully” and several other of the band’s megahits have become anthems in the live music world, cherished by the young and young-at-heart alike. But when Journey’s popular lead singer, Steve Perry, left the band in response to health challenges and internal conflicts, the group …

One of the architects of the iconic rock group Chicago, Danny Seraphine has never lost touch with his roots on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side. Danny Seraphine first picked up a set of drumsticks at 9 years of age, beginning a musical roller-coaster ride that gave the world some of the best-loved pop hits of our lifetime. Sixty years ago, the 17-year-old from the Far Northwest Side of Chicago was asked to be a drummer in Dick Clark’s road band, Jimmy Ford and the Executives. While in that band he met bassist extraordinaire Terry Kath and saxophonist Walt Parazaider. That chance …

Led by the father-and-sons team of Vincent John, Vinny Sr. and Nick Adinolfi (left to right), the Bronx Wanderers worked its way up from family barbecues on the East Coast to the hallowed clubs of Vegas. Just about two decades ago, a dad and his two sons embarked upon a journey that began in the Bronx and ultimately landed them among the brightest stars on the Las Vegas Strip. Vinny Adinolfi was a successful producer with Columbia Records, working regularly with legends like Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand and Billy Joel as well as a host of up-and-comers. He …

Founding members of the standout ’60s pop band The Buckinghams, Carl Giammarese and Nick Fortuna were instrumental in the band’s resurrection in 1980 after a decade-long hiatus. 1967 was quite the year in pop music history. Elvis and Priscilla got married. Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and The Doors all released their debut albums. The Aretha Franklin anthem “Respect” hit the airwaves. And The Buckinghams charted five Top 40 hits that to this day remain fan favorites. Undone by the British Invasion, the band broke up in 1970. But they re-formed in the early ’80s, thanks to two original members — …

Il Volo will be performing at the Chicago Theatre on March 14, having first appeared there more than a decade earlier in the course of their first international tour. In 2009, the career paths of three young singers — one from Abruzzo, one from Sicily and one from Bologna — converged at a musical competition on Italian TV. One of them won the contest, but they all emerged victorious. The show’s director, Roberto Cenci, saw something in the teens that led to a remarkable musical journey. He thought of bringing them together in the spirit of the original Three Tenors: …

A generation removed from far northeastern Italy, Micky Dolenz skyrocketed to fame as a driving force behind one of America’s most beloved ’60s pop groups and he’s still performing today. “Hey! Hey! We’re the Monkees!” was a familiar ditty that drew so many of us to our black-and-white television sets with the “bunny-ear” antennas on Monday evenings in the mid-’60s. For me, it was the Saturday morning reruns of the ’70s that bound me to America’s Marx Brothers-esque answer to the Mop-Top British Invasion. Davy Jones, the British heartthrob and tambourine playing vocalist; Peter Tork, the simple, soft-spoken bassist; and …

A driving force in the Cubs’ 2016 championship season, Anthony Rizzo returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since being traded to the Yankees in 2021 for a Sept. 6 matchup with his old team. Watching Anthony Rizzo’s rise to stardom in the Windy City was a Cubs fan’s dream come true. As the player and team reached unimagined heights together, America’s pastime became a religious experience in the home of deep-dish pizza and the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Being a lifelong devotee of the Chicago Cubs, I endured the multi-season heartbreak that reached a new low in …

Musical genres come and go, but Frankie Valli who made walking like a man famous is as dynamic today as he was when he scored his first hit with The Four Seasons in 1962. “You want a contract? OK, here’s the contract … a Jersey contract.” That’s part of an exchange in the global theatrical phenomenon “Jersey Boys,” as Frankie Valli extends his hand to bandmate Bob Gaudio when the legendary supergroup, The Four Seasons, was born. The handshake deal has stood the test of time for more than six decades. It is a barely legal arrangement unheard of in …