Fortunately for us, in addition to the succulent steaks and fresh seafood, Pete Miller’s, in Evanston, IL, offered a fantastic dessert menu. The bad news was that as cash-strapped college students, we couldn’t afford any of their dinner options. The good news was that steak houses didn’t have an age requirement. We were also lucky, because Chicago has no shortage of steak houses that provide live music for your dining pleasure. Once, while dining at a small restaurant in the ‘burbs, we were privy to a nearly private concert by a big band orchestra comprised solely of retired musicians, who rivaled Count Basie and The Duke. Kolker loved reading our papers, because we tipped him off to a number of random outlets. We researched all the underground venues, and found ourselves in the most unlikely of places, but as it turned out, that’s what Jazz music is really about. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because it forced us to find live jazz performances in unusual settings. All of the more famous clubs, like The Green Mill, were limited to patrons who were 21 or older…and Kenny hadn’t yet reached that milestone. Given that Chicago played such an integral role in shaping the jazz sound and culture, there seemed to be countless venue options to fulfill our assignment. Each week, we were tasked with catching a jazz show in the city, and writing a review and reflection about our experience. But the true gem of the class was our weekly homework assignments. From Dizzy Gillespie’s “Salt Peanuts” to Billie Holiday’s “Fine and Mellow,” it seemed no Jazz stone was left unturned.
#Whack the creeps cinnamon toast ken series#
His lessons were interactive, and using the soundtrack to Ken Burn’s documentary series on Jazz as our “textbook” of sorts, Kolker introduced us to some of the greats. In class, Professor Kolker lectured while sitting at a grand piano. On the other hand, neither of us had fulfilled all of our elective requirements, and when we spotted a class on Jazz appreciation, we jumped at the opportunity. And I couldn’t picture him in a costuming class, either. Since I had already completed my math and science requirements, there was no way I would voluntarily enroll in an advanced level engineering class with him. The only problem was that as a theatre major, there was very little overlap with Kenny’s materials science major.
When Kenny and I were a new couple, nearly 11 years ago, we thought it would be fun to take a class together.