The Windy City Ramblers: Great jazz music–even greater mission

There may be more accomplished jazz musicians in the city of Chicago, maybe more sophisticated, even more technically correct—maybe?  I don’t know because, while I enjoy it, I am no expert on jazz music.

But as a fan of our city's jazz scene, I can confidently tell you this: Nobody plays with more joy, enthusiasm, spirit and passion than the group known as The Windy City Ramblers.

You might see these guys on the street, you might see them at a community center performing, you might see them on stage at one of our local clubs, or you might see them in one of our city's many parades. 

Wherever might you run into them, trust me, you won’t forget. They’ve got that “it” factor—that something special, that all the great ones have. Think Jordan in basketball, Gretzky in hockey, Whitney singing, Obama giving a speech—all the great ones have that “something, something” that you really can’t teach. You either have it, or you don’t, and if you are an observer or spectator—you know it when you see it.

The Windy City Ramblers have it. 

Combining trumpet, trombone, tuba, sax, and drums, and meshing them all into one poetic motion, much like the starting five of a winning basketball team, the Ramblers put it all together in perfect unison. And when they do, it is a beautiful thing to see.

The leader of the entire operation, and the point guard who directs the musical traffic, is 48-year-old Chicago native Mario Abney, a charismatic, passionate, and accomplished musician who grew up in Chicago’s south suburbs. A Thornton High School grad, Abney went to college in Ohio and spent some time there post-schooling, before relocating to really start his jazz and music career in New Orleans.

It was there, in “The Birthplace of Jazz,” that his career—and passion for music—really took off.

It led to a long (15-year-plus) stay in New Orleans, where he played for other groups, started his own band, and even did some TV appearances, including as a regular on HBO’s “Treme.” All of this and more gave Abney a solid indoctrination into the world of jazz—especially New Orleans style.

But as so often happens in life, home finally beckoned. In 2021, Abney came back to Chicago—back to his home-grown roots, with wife and kids in tow, to continue his jazz career and to bring a little of that New Orleans-style flair to the Chicago jazz scene.

Here is where the Super Mario (after hearing him play and listening to him talk, that was my nickname for him) story really goes to another level.

Abney (Super Mario) found that he had more than just a passion for jazz music.  He had an innate need to do something with even a greater goal than just playing music.

He had grown up on the streets of Chicago and saw how music could help and inspire kids (as it did for him) IF they have the chance.

“If it wasn’t for music, I would have ended up like some of the other knuckleheads on the streets,” says Super Mario. “I wanted to find a way to use my music to help kids that might not be able to afford an instrument or to go to hear a concert, and even more importantly, I wanted to get them interested and excited about music.”.

So, with this goal in mind, in 2022, Abney started The Windy City Ramblers, an official charitable 501c3 organization dedicated to the cause of promoting music to the kids in the city.

“We give concerts in schools,” Abney says, “we conduct clinics, we do workshops, go to community centers where the kids are, we play in parades, we do private parties—wherever we can go to spread our love of music. Our future goal is to get enough funding so that we can help provide musical instruments for kids whose families cannot afford it.”

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The Ramblers are a large contingent of different musicians, not the same five each time, with different guys playing at different performances. The one constant through all this, though, is Abney himself. He is there at every performance and will always stop to talk to the audience, with that “you can’t fake it” passion he has, about the mission of The Windy City Ramblers and what they want to do to help kids in the city.

Super Mario has that rare ability to capture the attention of the audience, and his message comes across loud and clear, and most importantly… from the heart.

The Ramblers are still in their infant stage to some extent, only three years as an official organization, but the mission—and the music—is growing.

 Mario and his Windy City gang clearly are fighting for a cause much greater than just the music they are playing.

The Windy City Ramblers perform every Tuesday night at the world-renowned Andy’s Jazz Club on Hubbard Street. For the rest of their schedule, including appearances and ways to donate to help their mission, check out their website at windycityramblers.org.