In sophomore year of college, I took a course called Introduction to Jazz. On the first day, the professor asked us what jazz was. After we fumbled to describe the instruments and the music, he gave us his take: jazz is improvisation. Though I’m not a devoted follower of jazz, that simple formulation has stayed with me throughout the years.

For Booey Lehoo Arts Week, I attended Chicago Live!, a jazz and blues performance by some of Chicago’s top musicians at CD Blues. Chicago boasts one of the oldest jazz and blues traditions and is home to the likes of Benny Goodman and Herbie Hancock. All the greats—Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, B.B. King—have played Chicago at some point in their careers.

Chicago Live! kicked off with Brent Kimbrough & Company, led by the eponymous Kimbrough on guitar and vocals, Carlo Carani on keyboard, Kurt Schweitz on bass, and Kenny Coleman and drums. They played a set that alternated between jazz and blues numbers, replete with solos where they really showed off their stuff. During a break I talked to Kimbrough who said that it didn’t take much to get him to China; when he got the call from the organizer, Chris Ruggles, he immediately accepted.

By 10:30, the small club was standing room only. Lisa Roti, who looks like a matronly Anne Hathaway, replaced Kimbrough as vocalist. Roti moves and sounds like a jazz singer should—she swayed behind the mic as her smoky voice permeated an already smoky room.

Toward the end of the night, the band ceded the stage to Jr. Boy Jones (guitar/vocals) and Felton Crews (bass), who ended the night with a rowdy blues performance, crooning about bad luck and spurned love.

All three performances were immensely enjoyable and several orders of magnitude better than any jazz I’ve heard live. It was a treat to have such consummate musicians make the trek to Beijing in support of the event.

Around half past midnight, just as the place was beginning to empty, some audience members cleared the tables and created an impromptu dance floor. Before long, Jones was jamming between two women and the floor was packed with dancers. Then a guy took over the keyboard and someone else with a harmonica took the mic. They were just improvising, but I guess that’s what jazz is all about.