Book
Hands plucking the strings of an upright bass, printed in cobalt

BCT 1504 · Stereo

Blue Corner Trio

Piano · Bass · Drums · Chicago
The trio playing in the corner of a dim cocktail lounge

Live jazz for parties, galas & dinners

Side A · Cocktails & dinner

  1. 1Cocktail hour · one set, 60 min$950
  2. 2Dinner · two sets, 2 hours$1,450

Side B · Late

  1. 3The whole night · three sets$1,900
  2. 4Add a singer, Vivian Hale+$450

Book the trio Hear a set

Blue Corner TrioBCT 1504StereoChicago since 2011600+ nights$300 holds your date

BCT 1504 · 01

The track list.

Four ways to have us. Every price includes the three of us, our own sound, setup an hour before the first note, and a playlist for the breaks.

  1. 1

    Side A · One set · 60 min

    Cocktail hour

    Standards and bossa at a volume people can talk over. For a gallery opening, a rehearsal dinner, or the hour before the speeches.

    $950
  2. 2

    Side A · Two sets · 2 hours

    Dinner

    Two fifty-minute sets with a break at the toasts. We bring a small PA and a second mic for the speeches, so nobody shouts.

    $1,450
  3. 3

    Side B · Three sets · up to 4 hours

    The whole night

    Cocktails, dinner, then the late set, when Benny swaps the brushes for sticks and the room gets up. Most weddings book this one.

    $1,900
  4. 4

    Side B · Vivian Hale · any sets

    Add a singer

    Vivian joins for the sets you choose: torch songs over dinner, swing for the late set, and your first dance sung, not played.

    +$450

Bonus tracks

  • Tenor sax, the fourth chair+$400
  • Ceremony music, three pieces+$350
  • A song learned for youFree, six weeks ahead
  • Beyond 30 miles of the Loop$1 a mile

Sunday
at the
Corner

Blue Corner Trio · BCT 1504

BCT 1504 · 02 · Live LP

Sunday at the Corner.

Recorded live on a Sunday in March, in one take, in the back room where we’ve played every Sunday since 2014. This is what your cocktail hour sounds like.

A1 · Corner Blues

BCT 1504 · 03

What we play.

Two hundred tunes in the book and a few hundred more in Cal’s head. A taste, in the order a night usually goes.

AStandards

  1. Autumn Leaves
  2. Take the A Train
  3. All the Things You Are
  4. Body and Soul
  5. Fly Me to the Moon
  6. Satin Doll
  7. In a Sentimental Mood
  8. Misty

ABossa & Latin

  1. The Girl from Ipanema
  2. Blue Bossa
  3. Corcovado
  4. Wave
  5. Besame Mucho
  6. Song for My Father
  7. Manha de Carnaval

BAfter midnight

  1. September
  2. Isn’t She Lovely
  3. Valerie
  4. Dreams
  5. Superstition
  6. Golden Hour
  7. Crazy in Love
  8. Lovely Day
Cal Whitaker, the trio’s pianist, at a grand piano in a dim lounge
Cal Whitaker · piano, leader

BCT 1504 · 04 · Liner notes

Notes, by Cal Whitaker.

I learned piano on my grandmother’s upright in Bronzeville, a church piano with a cracked middle C she refused to fix. “Play around it,” she said. I’ve been playing around things ever since.

At sixteen I was playing for tips on 47th Street. At twenty-five I had a Tuesday in a hotel bar downtown that lasted eleven years. Good training: you learn to play so people can talk, and you learn when they’ve stopped talking because they want to listen.

In 2011 a couple from that bar asked me to play their wedding “with whoever you play with.” I called Odessa, who I’d met at a Monday jam on the South Side and who plays bass like she’s walking home happy, and Benny, who had the only car big enough for the drums. We played three sets. The DJ never got to plug in.

We’ve been the Blue Corner Trio ever since, named for the corner of the room where they always put the piano. Six hundred nights later, I still answer the texts myself.

  • Cal Whitakerpiano, leader
  • Odessa Brooksupright bass
  • Benny Kowalczykdrums, brushes
  • Vivian Halevoice, on request

BCT 1504 · 05

Photographs.

A few recent nights, from ballrooms to backyards.

  • Gala, the Gold Coast, March · 320 guests, three sets

    01Gala, the Gold CoastMarch · 320 guests, three sets

  • Backyard wedding, Logan Square, June · the late set

    02Backyard wedding, Logan SquareJune · the late set

  • Dinner in a West Loop loft, October · two sets

    03Dinner in a West Loop loftOctober · two sets

  • Vivian Hale, December · “Misty” at the first dance

    04Vivian HaleDecember · “Misty” at the first dance

  • Cal’s left hand, Every night

    05Cal’s left handEvery night

  • Benny’s brushes, Side A

    06Benny’s brushesSide A

  • The piano lid, 11:40 PM, New Year’s Eve

    07The piano lid, 11:40 PMNew Year’s Eve

  • Load-in, The freight elevator, 1 AM

    08Load-inThe freight elevator, 1 AM

What people say

  • “The rare event band that makes a ballroom feel like a basement club.”

    The Lakefront Reader

  • “Whitaker plays standards like he’s letting you in on a secret.”

    Lakeshore Jazz Notes

  • “Our guests stayed for the late set instead of leaving after cake. Nobody leaves after cake.”

    Rachel & SamWedding, Logan Square

  • “They learned our first dance in two weeks and Vivian made my dad cry.”

    PriscillaWedding, Evanston

  • “Three galas in a row now. Cal reads a room better than my whole events team.”

    MonicaDevelopment director, Gold Coast

★★★★★ 5.0 from 140 reviews

BCT 1504 · 06

Where we play.

Ballrooms, lofts, backyards and living rooms across Chicago and the North Shore. Within 30 miles of the Loop there’s no travel fee.

© OpenStreetMap contributors
Chicago and the North Shore Free within 30 miles of the Loop, then $1 a mile Open the map

Hear us in public

  1. Every SunThe Copper Room, Andersonville7 PM · two setsFree
  2. Dec 12Holiday Swing Night, Hyde Park Arts Hall8 PMTickets
  3. Dec 31New Year’s Eve at The Copper Room9 PM until lateSold out
  4. Jan 18Jazz brunch, the Brass Lantern, Lakeview11 AMTickets

The Sunday residency is free and all ages. Come hear us before you book; Cal will say hello at the break.

BCT 1504 · 07

Before you book.

How do we hold our date?

Pick your date below and pay the $300 deposit. The date is yours from then on, and the deposit comes off the total. The rest is due a week before.

Do you bring a piano?

If the venue has one, Cal plays it (we ask for it tuned the week of). If not, he brings a stage piano that sounds and feels like the real thing. No extra charge either way.

How loud is it?

As loud as you want and no louder. Side A is played so people can talk across the table. Side B is for dancing.

How much room do you need?

A corner about ten feet by eight, near an outlet. With a grand piano, a little more. We’ve played in a freight elevator.

Can you play our song?

Send it six weeks ahead. We learn it and play it like it was written in 1959, at no charge. Vivian can sing it if it needs words.

What do you wear?

Dark suits, or black tie when you say so. The bass wears whatever she likes.

BCT 1504 · 08

Hold your night.

$300 holds the date and comes off the total. Saturdays from May to October and every December go first. Cal texts you within the day.

  1. 1Service
  2. 2Date
  3. 3Details
Pick your set
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