Chris Pearson describes his life in 1988 Chicago and how he entered his career as a decorative painter.

Albert Ayler lived a brief high intensity musical life in search of spiritual unity. John Coltrane and a few other supporters saw him as visionary, but he was largely underappreciated in his time.

While living in Hyde Park, the north side of Chicago provided a space to escape our neighborhood joints and dance in nightclubs like Club Berlin and the Smart Bar.