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<p>In another life, Flea might have bypassed all the fame and glory of rock music. He might have stuck to playing the trumpet, which he first picked up as a kid, and become one of our modern jazz greats, jumping around the late-night club circuit in New York’s Greenwich Village or New Orleans, and working on retrospectives of John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk.</p><p>On Thursday night at Thalia Hall, the Red Hot Chili Peppers founding member and bassist performed as if that was always his storyline.</p><p>Chicago was the kickoff of the musician’s anticipated “Honora” tour, in support of the total about-face album he released in March that presents a sweeping and defiant journey into the jazz ambitions that were always lurking in his bones.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-120000" name="image-120000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/86e46c4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3500x1964+0+124/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe2%2F48%2F6832d7df485fa5c66fe64d2ba0ff%2Fflea-260509-016.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c328d53/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3500x1964+0+124/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe2%2F48%2F6832d7df485fa5c66fe64d2ba0ff%2Fflea-260509-016.jpg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2e4472d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3500x1964+0+124/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe2%2F48%2F6832d7df485fa5c66fe64d2ba0ff%2Fflea-260509-016.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="Musicians Josh Johnson, Anna Butterss, Flea, Deantoni Parks and Jeff Parker of Flea and the Honora Band perform at Thalia Hall on 1807 S Allport St, Chicago, IL 60608 on Thursday, May 7, 2025. | Barry Brecheisen/For the Sun-Times" srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2e4472d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3500x1964+0+124/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe2%2F48%2F6832d7df485fa5c66fe64d2ba0ff%2Fflea-260509-016.jpg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0fd1ad3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3500x1964+0+124/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe2%2F48%2F6832d7df485fa5c66fe64d2ba0ff%2Fflea-260509-016.jpg 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2e4472d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3500x1964+0+124/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe2%2F48%2F6832d7df485fa5c66fe64d2ba0ff%2Fflea-260509-016.jpg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>Musicians Josh Johnson, Anna Butterss, Flea, Deantoni Parks and Jeff Parker (of Chicago band Tortoise) of Flea and the Honora Band perform Thursday at Thalia Hall.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Barry Brecheisen/For the Sun-Times</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>As the story goes, Flea’s stepdad was the jazz musician Walter Urban Jr., who filled the young talent’s mind with ideas as he watched Urban Jr.