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Arts & Entertainment Preview - July 1997 B Y   B O B   B L U M E N T H A L   &   C H A R L E S   M.   Y O U N G The City That Delivers the Stars Sometimes Chicago enjoys a pennant race on Labor Day weekend, but the Chicago Jazz Festival (August 28-31; 312-744-3370) has been a sure thing for nineteen years. This totally free event has a lot going for it besides the accommodating Petrillo Music Shell and the city's imposing skyline. The programming skill of the respected Jazz Institute of Chicago ensures that jazz from all eras and all corners of the world will be heard. This year, in addition to such stars as Illinois Jacquet and Billy Taylor, the Australian alto saxophonist Bernie McGann and the French-gypsy guitar duo of Boulou and Elios Ferre will receive their first significant American exposure. A tribute to Detroit jazz will include Betty Carter, Tommy Flanagan, and Kenny Burrell; Chicago will also honor its own, with a special set celebrating the seventy-fifth birthday of the tenor-sax legend Von Freeman. Seating is open for the festival's four late-afternoon concerts, where crowds historically pay equal attention to classicists, represented this year by the cornetist Ruby Braff, and to innovators, such as Myra Melford and her band The Same River Twice. "Jazz on Jackson" events featuring local musicians and special guests on a contiguous Grant Park stage provide more music on Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon. The truly insatiable can also take in the late-night club action, where festival stars often sit in and do their best to see that the music never stops. --B.B. La Grande Dame Some fans jokingly refer to Montreal as the home of the best American jazz festival, although it would be just as accurate to refer to Festival International de Jazz de Montreal as North America's most European event--not only because of the French spoken in Quebec but also because of the respect shown, by both producers and diverse audiences, for all styles of jazz. Montreal, an unrivaled celebration The 18th annual Montreal festival (June 26-July 6; 888-515-0515) will, as usual, be centered in the city's Place des Arts/Complexe Desjardins. Ten indoor clubs and concert halls plus nine outdoor stages offer more than three dozen performances, mostly free, daily from noon until midnight. Among the many family-oriented events is a musical revue held at the Montreal Casino. Although blues and world music have a significant place and their own outdoor stages, jazz is always the main event at the Montreal festival. In addition to such stars as Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, and Jackie McLean, the program includes special events. The nine concerts of the "Piano Piano" series pair major keyboard players from around the world, including Geri Allen, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Matial Solal, and Renee Rosmes. In the "Invitational" series both the guitarist Bill Frisell and the trombonist Ray Anderson will work with a different ensemble each night. And the "Grand Evénement," on Tuesday, July 1, a well-kept secret until festival time, will bring the entire festival audience together for one spectacular performance. Last year more than 125,000 fans gathered to hear the New Orleans trumpeters Nicholas Payton and Leroy Jones celebrate Louis Armstrong. --B.B. Megatours For all the talk of "electronica" (computer and synthesizer weirdness) being the next big thing, the truly monster tour of the summer promises to be that old reliable heavy metal, in the form of the Ozzfest (May 24-June 29).   The iron man, Ozzy Osbourne Headlined by Ozzy Osbourne, reuniting with his Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler (but not Bill Ward), the Ozzfest is modeled after Lollapalooza, with a full day and two stages of pagan rites at high decibels. Ozzy will perform his own full-length set and then cap the evening with the heaviest of all reunions. In a nice juxtaposition of classic and current horror metal, Pantera and Marilyn Manson will split the dates in the second slot--if local authorities don't try to force Manson off the bill, as happened at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Other main-stage bands include Machine Head, Fear Factory, Type O Negative, and Powerman 5000. George Clinton If you prefer your day of rock to be more mixed in style, the Lollapalooza tour (running from mid-June to mid-August) offers a lineup ranging from retro avant-garde (Devo) to electronica (Orbital) to rap (Snoop Doggy Dogg) to metal (Tool). Other acts even less amenable to labeling include the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Julian and Damian Marley and the Uprising Band, Korn, and Tricky. If you're more funk-oriented, the House of Blues is sponsoring its second Smokin' Grooves Tour (June 30-August 24), co-headlined by George Clinton with the P-Funk All-Stars and Cypress Hill. Erykah Badou, the Roots, and Foxy Brown fill out the bill. You will also see one of the following in the opening slot: Outkasts, Brand New Heavies, or Pharcyde. --C.M.Y. Bob Blumenthal is a jazz critic for The Boston Globe. Charles M. Young reviews popular music for Playboy, Musician, and other publications. Go to ... Copyright © 1997 by The Atlantic Monthly Company. All rights reserved.