The Journalism of Howard Reich
Howard Reich covered jazz, blues, gospel and classical music for the Chicago Tribune from 1978 to 2021. Some of his articles are gathered in the story gallery here. The work includes reviews, interviews, commentary, cultural investigations and multi-part narrative series.
Special Projects
In addition to his daily coverage of the arts, Howard wrote several large-scale projects involving months or years of work. Here are some highlights:
a pianist's comeback
Howard and Tribune photographer Zbigniew Bzdak chronicled the heroic comeback of pianist Alexei Sultanov, who was the youngest person to win the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1989) but later suffered a series of debilitating strokes. The series unfolded in three stories:
“The Life and Rebirth of a Musical Mastermind”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/chi-piano-1-story-story.html
“Relearning the Piano”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-piano-2-story-story.html
“The Spirit of the Music Survives”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-12-20-0512200281-story.html
mac's journey
“Mac’s Journey”: After Howard identified Vietnam veteran Gerald McDonald as heir to a collection of Nazi-looted art, McDonald traveled to Prague to try to get it – and Howard went along. The story appeared in two parts:
“Confronting the Ghosts of a Looted Past”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-021017geraldmcdonald-story-story.html
“Retracing a tragic course”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-10-18-0210190001-story.html
the louis armstrong tapes
In 2001, Howard was the first journalist to report on Louis Armstrong’s private collection of diary audiotapes, which inspired an episode of ABC-TV’s “Nightline” program. The coverage ran in two stories:
“Jazz giant’s private views show anger behind smile”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-07-29-0107290403-story.html
“The Louis Armstrong tapes”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-08-05-0108050407-story.html
the great violin chase
Howard and Tribune colleague William Gaines spent a year tracking the murky world of violin sales, including trafficking in instruments looted by Nazis in World War II. The series appeared in several parts, including these:
“Dealers gain collectors’ trust, score multimillion bonanza”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-06-17-0106170293-story.html
“How Nazis targeted world’s finest violins”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-08-19-0108190236-story.html
bittersweet ending
A looted-art case Howard covered for years comes to its conclusion, but the stolen painting is not returned: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/reich/ct-looted-marieschi-ae-0528-20170527-column.html
born on the south side
Howard explored the history, legacy and future of gospel, jazz and blues in this series. It’s three installments are:
“Echoes of Glory”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-03-29-9803290410-story.html
“The Drill Sergeant of DuSable”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-09-06-9809060368-story.html
“Faded Blues”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-12-27-9812270401-story.html
