Maybe it's because I was in New Orleans during Katrina weekend rescuing our twins' godmother from her Lower Ninth Ward apartment. Maybe it's because I have an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans. Or maybe it's because I've taken dozens of suburban and urban teens on service-learning visits to the Crescent City that makes me think events in the Gulf region are important.

Earth-shaking, big-band jazz every Sunday evening. FitzGerald's, the Berwyn nightclub on Roosevelt Road, has a long tradition of booking swing bands for the Sabbath but recently they've allowed a new organization to find the talent for the third Sunday of the month. The Chicagoland Big Band Jazz Society is committed to the historical study of the genre, supporting Sundays at FitzGerald's and promoting the future of big-band jazz.