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How to sneak away Friday afternoon for the Blues Fest
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Big Bill Morganfield and Mud Morganfield (2007)
If you have a weakness for live blues music and just can’t get out at night or weekends, the blues fest is a great opportunity for the afternoon delight of blues sasification. Have your weak day on a week day. If your evenings and weekends are spoken for, the fest offers a weekday live blues option. Specifically, I have some recommendations for this Friday afternoon. This year Thursday is not included in the Fest. If you’re leaving from work downtown just get a ride. Take a cab or public transportation. Perhaps you can hoof it to Grant Park, but either way, the Fest is free. There are many great blues related presentations, but I’m going to walk you through a path of live blues music. This is the very same music heard around the capital of the blues on nights and weekends throughout the year.
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Russ Green and Vince Agwada front Chicago Blues Experience
If you can get there as early as 12:30 PM, go to the Mississippi Juke Joint stage at the South end of the fest on Columbus Drive. Eddie Taylor Jr. and Harmonica Hinds will prime your blues pump. Taylor is a talented singer and guitarist with a good blues pedigree (father Eddie and brother Larry). I can’t remember what Harmonica Hinds plays but I have heard him many times and he is good. He currently holds down many of the acoustic sets at Legends. If one half hour is enough for you to be at any one stage, and you have some comfortable shoes on, head over to the Gibson sponsored Crossroads Stage which is on Jackson and backs up to Lake Shore Drive. There you can experience Vince Agwada (guitar/vocals) and Russ Green (harp/vocals). Their band Chicago Blues Experience works hard to keep it real. I was sold on their version of “44”. You can stay there for Mary Lane’s Blues All-Stars or head back East to the Front Porch Stage. This stage is on the grassy Southwest corner of Jackson and Columbus, and will probably be on your way out. Remember you have to be home before dark. At 3:00 PM at the Front Porch will be Big Bill Morganfield and Mud Morganfield with special guests Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. While Big Bill and Mud have pretty much separate careers they share a father in one Muddy Waters. Pinetop and Willie are senior statesmen contemporaries of their famous dad. Pinetop is a ninety-six year young piano legend and Big Eyes was Muddy’s drummer. Mud and Willie can be heard frequently around town. The brothers Morganfield had a reunion at a Westmont fest a few years back which proved to be a very good show. This itinerary is just a sample of course, and there are no bad acts at the Fest. This allows you to steal away on a Friday afternoon, see something more interesting than a Cubs game, and still get home in time for dinner..
Another advantage to this itinerary is that many of these players will be here in Chicago throughout the year. If you find music you enjoy, then at least when you can get a rare evening out, you will know who to go see. Another tip: When you are looking for live Chicago blues, refer to the world famous, comprehensive ChicagoBluesBeat live blues calendar.
For more info: 2009 Festival Brochure , Festival Map , Complete Schedule
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