June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago

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June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
                        Lori E. Lightfoot ∙ Mayor of Chicago

                             36th Annual

                                                                        F I C IAL
                                                                      OF RAM
                                                                      PROGOK
                                                                        BO

June 7–9, 2019                                                chicagobluesfestival.us
11am–9pm                     FREE ADMISSION                   #ChicagoBluesFestival
Millennium Park
June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
CHASE AWAY T HE BL U E S
            When the sun goes down, the fun heats up
                in the Birthplace of America’s Music.
        Don’t miss out on your next musical adventure in
           Mississippi — sure to chase away the blues.

      V I S I T M I S S I SSI PPI .ORG /DO N T MIS S OU T

KINGFISH
B E L H AV E N L I G H T S B E L H AV E N N I G H T S
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
Welcome to the 36th Annual Chicago Blues Festival
    On behalf of Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, welcome to       with Billy Boy Arnold, Bettye LaVette, Don Bryant,
    the 36th Annual Chicago Blues Festival!                Latimore, Ruthie Foster, The CONNECTION: Mike
                                                           Welch & Friends and Larkin Poe. With six stages
    Chicago is the birthplace of the urban blues,          of music, Millennium Park will pulsate with the
    gospel music, house music, jazz and more. Over         power of the blues.
    three weeks we are celebrating Chicago’s Music
    Legacy in the city’s stunning cultural home –          Best of all, it’s free—made possible by our many
    Millennium Park. Chicago is an arts powerhouse         partners and the hardworking team at the Chicago
    and because of our rich musical heritage, a global     Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
    cultural destination for music lovers.                 I’m grateful for their support.  I encourage our
                                                           guests to attend the after-sets and musical
    In 2019, the festival is celebrating the influence     happenings taking place in our great music clubs
    of the blues with tributes and performances by         and venues throughout the city.  Attending Blues
    the genre’s leading artists that include traditional   Fest also means going out to our neighborhoods
    blues, soul, R&B, hip hop and more on six stages       and enjoying our vibrant music scene.
    featuring local and national blues artists in the
    park and in music venues and clubs throughout          Welcome, and enjoy!
    the city.
                                                           Mark Kelly
    Festival headliners performing on the main stage,      Commissioner
    the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, include: Bobby Rush,        Chicago Department of Cultural
    Jimmy Johnson Blues Band, Charlie Musselwhite          Affairs and Special Events

3              CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                           JUNE 2019
June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
36TH ANNUAL CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL
                                                                                      by Justin O’Brien

    FRIDAY, JUNE 7                         toured and recorded as bassist for his
                                           brother, the late guitar wizard Freddie
                                                                                      Pop label. With them she released
                                                                                      Shout out to the Dusthuffer (1995)
       BUDWEISER                           King, who took him to the biggest          followed by Sunday Morning Music
   CROSSROADS STAGE                        arenas and largest festivals before        (1996). Her song Cry was picked up
 (Chase Promenade South)                   King’s early death in 1976. Turner’s       for the premiere season of HBO’s
      Emcee: WDCB                          autobiography, Survivor: The Benny         The Sopranos. Beginning in the late
                                           Turner Story (2017), details his           1990s, Davis sang backup for Detroit’s
11am–Noon Joanna Connor                    incredible life in music. Since 2010 he    Kid Rock on two of his CDs and a
       Joanna Connor has gained a          has released a string of his own           single, and she appeared with him
formidable reputation as a Chicago-        recordings, including the all-original     on “Jimmie Kimmel Live” and at the
based, Texas-style, guitar-slinging        Journey (2014) and My Brother’s            2000 VH1 Vogue Fashion Awards at
blues singer and slide player (who         Blues, a tribute to the music of his       New York’s Madison Square Gardens.
hails from Brooklyn, New York, by way      brother Freddie King. His very latest,     During her seven-year residency
of Worcester, Massachusetts). Connor       Going Back Home, just released on          at Detroit’s Music Menu club she
found a spot in slide guitarist Johnny     Nola Blue, pairs him with his old friend   recorded Thornetta Davis Covered
Littlejohn’s band after making her 1984    Cash McCall from their gospel-singing      Live at the Music Menu, which
pilgrimage to the Windy City, and in       youth in Chicago. The set is a return to   won Best R&B/Blues Recording at
1985 took up Dion Payton’s invitation      the traditional Chicago blues they         the Detroit Music Awards in 2002.
to join his 43rd Street Blues Band.        each knew and performed (though            Thus far she has won over 30 Detroit
She toured as a guitarist with sax-man     separately) early in their careers, and    Music Awards, and in 2001 Davis was
A.C. Reed’s band before committing         includes cameos from Turner’s lovely-      inducted into the Detroit Music Hall of
full-time to her own band in 1987.         voiced daughters. Sadly, Cash McCall       Fame. Her 2016 CD Honest Woman
She recorded four well-received            passed away in April of this year.         garnered more accolades. Davis
albums on the Blind Pig label, toured                                                 has done considerable recording for
nationally and internationally, and                                                   commercials, and her voice was used
even appeared in a scene on the Fox                                                   on the television program Xena Warrior
TV show The Exorcist in 2016. With                                                    Princess. She can also be heard
the heart of a road warrior, she had                                                  on the soundtrack for the 2001 film
to juggle the demands of gigging and                                                  Osmosis Jones.
being a mother, all while the blues club
and recording scene was changing.                                                     2:45–4pm Guy King with special
In 2016, with her two kids grown,                                                     guest Chris Cain
she recorded Six String Stories, her                                                        As stylish and regal as his name,
first studio album in a while (and her                                                Guy King’s refined guitar playing
third for M.C. Records), heralding a                                                  retains the essence of the rowdy
blistering return to the charts.                                                      history of blues. The Israel-born King
                                                                                      spent time in Memphis and New
12:15–1:15pm Benny Turner and
                                            THORNETTA DAVIS                           Orleans before making his presence
Real Blues                                                                            known in Chicago as guitarist for the
      Playing bass and guitar, Benny       1:30–2:30 pm Thornetta Davis               late, west side legend Willie Kent,
Turner served with Dee Clark, the Soul          Born in Detroit in 1963,              whom he worked with for many years
Stirrers and Mighty Joe Young in           Thornetta Davis sang R&B as a              and recorded with on Comin’ Alive
Chicago, and then became Marva             young woman in vocal groups and as         (Blue Chicago). His debut CD, Livin’ It,
Wright’s bandleader for two decades        a backup singer until scoring a solo       released in 2008, was a hit with the
in New Orleans. But early on Turner        recording contract with Seattle’s Sub      media and fans alike. His 2016 follow-

6                CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                   JUNE 2019
June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
up on Delmark, Truth, reached the top            Cain have both built on the bedrock of                                                                     traditional
spot on the Roots Music Report for               blues guitar stylists B.B. King and                                                                        Berber rhythms
contemporary blues and garnered a                Albert King and found ample room for                                                                       of the Sahara
Blues Foundation nomination for Best             riffing. Cain, who was raised in a home                                                                    with an energy
Emerging Artist Album. His all-original          that treasured the Memphis blues                                                                           borrowed from
followup will appear on Delmark later            traditions, went to his first B.B. King                                                                    Western rock
this year. For this appearance, King             concert at the age of three. He began                                                                      music to make
will be joined by Chris Cain, known              learning guitar at eight years of age                                                                      haunting,
for his Memphis-style guitar playing             and was out gigging in local clubs                                                                         hypnotic, blues-
and strong, soulful vocals. This will be         around San Jose, California, by the                                                                        like songs and
an interesting pairing since King and            time he was eighteen. He studied (and                                                                      hard-driving,
                                                 taught) jazz and became a multi-                                                                           danceable
                                                 instrumentalist, and in 1987 released                                                BOMBINO               grooves that
                                                 his first album, Late Night Blues City                                                                     bridge the
                                                 Blues, which earned four W.C. Handy                                                traditional and modern worlds. Mostly
                                                 nominations (forerunner to the Blues                                               self-taught on the guitar, he practiced
                                                 Music Awards). He has recorded three                                               while herding the tribe’s livestock and
                                                 albums for the Blind Pig labeland five                                             later studied with renowned Tuareg
                                                 for Blue Rock-It and has self-produced                                             guitarist Haja Bebe. He traveled to
                                                 a few others.                                                                      Libya and Algeria where he met with
                                                                                                                                    other musicians and learned from
                                                 4:15–5:30pm Bombino                                                                Western videos of guitar players. He
                                                      Born Goumour Almoctar to a                                                    quickly became an accomplished
                                                 nomadic tribe of Tuareg in Niger,                                                  player and accompanied the band
    GUY KING                                     Omara “Bombino” Moctar fuses                                                       Tidawt to California where, in addition,

                           © 2017 ANHEUSER-BUSCH, BUDWEISER® BEER, ST. LOUIS, MO

                                                                                               Closing Date: 5.4.18         Trim: 7.25" x 4.75"

                 CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM
                                             Brand: Bud Iconic     Job/Order #: 302196

8                                                                                                                                                                           JUNE 2019
                                                                                                                                                                                  PRINT

                                             Item #: PBW2017125    Operator: cs                Publication: Chicago Blues   Bleed: none"            Live: 7" x 4.5"

                                             MUST INITIAL FOR APPROVAL    PO:            PM:           AE:            AD:          CD:            CW:                 QC:
June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
he recorded on Stone’s World—The Rolling Stones Project
Volume 2, with Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. Back in
Niger, he fled to Burkina Faso after two of his band members
were killed in a Tuareg rebellion. Filmmaker Ron Wyman
featured Bombino in a documentary about the Tuareg and
helped him record Agadez on Cumbancha Records in 2011.
Bombino is the innovator of ‘Tuareggae,’ a combination of                  3419 W Irving Park Rd | Chicago, IL
Tuareg blues/rock with reggae.

                  VISIT MISSISSIPPI                                  Chicago’s Largest Selection
                 JUKE JOINT STAGE                                    of Vintage Blues & Jazz LP’s,
              (Chase Promenade North)
                 Emcee: Kamel King
                                                                       CD’s, 45’s, 78’s and more!

11:15am–12:15pm Jimmy Burns Band
      Jimmy Burns was born in the Delta town of Dublin,
Mississippi, in 1943 and came to Chicago at 12 years of age.
As a teen he was a street-corner doo-wopper, like his friends
Curtis Mayfield, Major Lance, Jerry Butler and Gene Chandler.
He joined The Medallionaires and recorded on a couple of
doo-wop sides. Burns issued a handful of soul 45s and
toured with the Fantastic Epics. After a hiatus from music he
returned in the 1990s singing blues and playing guitar on his                       BOB KOESTER
own Delmark recording Leaving Here Walking which made a                 Monday - Saturday | 10:30 am - 6:30 pm
big splash on the scene, won the coveted Blues Album of the              773-539-5002 | Like us on Facebook
Year award from the National Association of Independent
Record Distributors and led to steady gigs, touring and             In 2016 Johnson graduated from Delta State with a
further recording. Thus far he has released four CDs and a          degree in audio engineering. Keith Johnson and The
live DVD on Delmark, and he played guitar on his late brother       Big Muddy Blues Band won the 2018 Vicksburg Blues
Eddie’s 2002 album, Snake Eyes. He detoured to the Velrone          Challenge and advanced to represent the Vicksburg
label in 2011 to record Stuck in the Middle before returning        Blues Society in the International Blues Challenge.
to Delmark in 2015 to record It Ain’t Right, yet another great      Currently, Johnson and his Big Muddy Band are said to
set of blues, soul and gospel which showcases his silvery and       be working on a recording.
authoritative voice.
                                                                    1:45–2:45pm Karen Wolfe
                                      12:30–1:30pm Keith                  Originally from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where she
                                      Johnson “Prince of the        was born in 1959, Karen Wolfe is today one of the rising
                                      Delta Blues” & The Big        stars of southern soul blues. But she began her singing
                                      Muddy Blues Band              career in gospel, performing with Soul Unlimited and
                                      Keith Johnson “Prince         recording Stop By Here with The Harmonettes. After a
                                      of the Delta Blues”           move to Jackson, Tennessee, in 1997 she took up blues,
                                      seems less audacious          singing back-up with the legendary soul blues singer
                                      a title for an up-and-        Denise LaSalle, with whom she toured for several years
KEITH JOHNSON                         coming young guitarist
PHOTO BY MARCUS MCCLAMROCK                                          before striking out on her own. In 2006 she recorded
                                      when you consider that
                                                                    her debut album, First Time Out, on B&J Records and
he is a great nephew of a true king of the blues—Muddy
                                                                    followed up in 2009 with A Woman Needs a Strong
Waters. Additionally, his grandfather Texcellar Fields was a
                                                                    Man. In 2012 she released the full-length CD Telling
Delta gospel singer and radio personality. The Glen Allan,
Mississippi, native began singing gospel music after years          it Like it Is on Coday, the successor to B&J Records.
of church exposure, performing with the Delta Sensations            Then in quick succession, she followed in 2015 with No
before picking up the guitar and branching out into the blues       Regrets and again two years later with That Bitch Ain’t
while a student at Delta State University. In addition to guitar,   Me (also retitled That Chick Ain’t Me).
Johnson has experience playing keyboards and harmonica.

9                CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                  JUNE 2019
June 7-9, 2019 - 36 A ual - FREE ADMISSION - City of Chicago
3–4pm Grady Champion                      unique vantage point on the blues, as       and Stone Academy
      Singer, songwriter and              he grew up in a house—on the same                  Blues in the Schools has
harmonica player Grady Champion           block as Muddy Waters—where some            become a venerable institution that
was born into a big farming family        of the greatest Chicago blues               provides in-class and after-school arts
in Canton, Mississippi, in 1969 and       musicians constantly dropped by.            education for all grades, employing
as a youngster sang in the church         Kenny’s career reached a pinnacle           blues music and history to teach not
choir. As a teen he was drawn to the      when he won a Grammy ©Award in              only music, but also self-esteem,
rap music industry and went to work       2011 for Joined at the Hip, backing         cultural diversity and self-expression.
in Florida as a DJ, a promoter and        up his father (who was then playing         The Chicago Blues Festival continues
late, as a performer, rapping under       harp, his original instrument) as well as   its long-standing tradition of opening
the name MC Gold. But he began            Waters’ former piano player and             the festival with a performance by
experimenting with a hip hop infused      bandmate Pinetop Perkins. Yet Kenny         Chicago students from the Blues in
blues, took up the harmonica and          has never rested on his laurels. He         the Schools program, and this year’s
soon self-produced his first album,       finds time to play in several bands         group once again hails from the Stone
Goin’ Back Home. He got the               contemporaneously, is a go-to guy for       Scholastic Academy, one of the
attention of Shanachie Records, and       session drumming and continues to           many schools benefiting from this
with them he released Payin’ for My       perfect his craft and learn new styles,     wonderful program.
Sins (1999) and 2 Days Short of a         instruments and techniques. He’s a                 Katherine Davis has been
Week (2001), on which he wrote and        family man who teaches workshops            involved with Blues in the Schools
performed songs that addressed gang       and participates in the Blues in the        since 1992, contributing her talents
violence and racial profiling. In 2003    Schools program and has recorded            for both singing and for working with
Etta James recorded the song Trust        developmental music for children. In        children to build their self-esteem
Yourself, co-written by Champion          2009 he was nominated for a                 through music expression. Davis has
with Kevin Bowe, for her Let’s Roll       Grammy® Award for his contributions         additionally worked to bring art to
album, which won a Grammy® Award          to Chicago Blues: A Living History.         inner city children through her role as
for Best Contemporary Blues Album         Smith is a five time nominee for the        a docent at Chicago’s Smart Museum
and a Blues Music Award for Soul/         annual Blues Music Award for Best           of Art. She has deservedly earned
Blues Album of the Year. Having           Drummer by the Blues Foundation. On         a place among the highest ranks of
earned some valuable experience           his own Big Eye label he has released       traditional blues and jazz vocalists
in the music business, Champion           Keepin It Together in 2014 with             on the Chicago scene. Her latest
started up his own label, Grady Shady     preeminent Chicago bassist Bob              recording is Rock This House—Live!
Music, in 2011 and released three         Stroger and has just issued Drop the        on Sirens Records.
albums including Dreamin’ which was       Hammer.                                            Mahmoud Khan is a Chicago
nominated for two 2012 Blues Music                                                    keyboard player and composer who
Awards for Best Soul Blues Album                                                      is currently working with the 12-piece
and Song of the Year (for “Thank You                                                  funk ensemble Souled Out, as well as
for Giving Me the Blues”). Jackson,                                                   with the Mike Dangeroux Orchestra
Mississippi-based Malaco Records                                                      and The Tropics Reggae Band. He has
signed Champion the following year,                                                   many credits for theatrical productions
recording his album Bootleg Whiskey                                                   and won the 2010 Black Theatre
a fine offering of southern soul blues.                                               Alliance Award for Sound Design for
In 2016 he followed with One of a                                                     the ETA Creative Arts Foundation
Kind.                                                                                 production of A Fool Such as I.
                                          KENNY “BEEDY EYES” SMITH                           Longtime Chicago drummer Tino
4:15–5:30pm Jam Session with                                                          Cortes has a resume that extends
Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith                                                              back several decades to performing
      A perennial favorite of the             FRONT PORCH STAGE                       with rent-party pianist Jimmy Walker.
Chicago Blues Fest is the jam session           (Wrigley Square)                      He has accompanied Katherine Davis
with Kenny Smith, one of the premier          Emcee: Mike Jeffers                     for several years of Chicago Blues
drummers on today’s blues scene.             Chicago Jazz Magazine                    Festival appearances. Cortes is also
Smith was taught by one of the very                                                   the drummer for Tom Holland & The
best—his father, Willie “Big Eyes”        11am–Noon Blues in the Schools              Shuffle Kings, who are also on the
Smith, who for years kept the beat for    with Katherine Davis, Mahmoud               Chicago Blues Fest this year.
the great Muddy Waters. He had a          Khan, Tino Cortes, Alan Burroughs                  Chicago jazz guitarist Alan

10              CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                    JUNE 2019
Burroughs has performed and/or              now bandleader in his own right) Guy
recorded with such musical dignitaries      King, and he includes a chorus of his
as Martha Redbone, Art Porter, Philip       own children on one track. With harp
Bailey, Adam Holzman, Charles               contributions by innovator Sugar Blue
Earland, and Miles Davis. Burroughs         and bold rising star Omar Coleman,
and Tim Gant both participated in           three back-up vocalists and a set list
producer Larry Skoller’s Ladysmith          of genre-bending numbers, Hammer
Chicago Gospel Experience, with the         represents a big step outside of
Ladysmith Red Lions of South Africa.        those big, yet potentially individuality-
                                            restricting, shoes.
                                                                                          One of top five new Blues Festivals
12:30–1:30pm Bob Stroger                                                                in the nation by Blues Scene Magazine
       Bob Stroger, who turns eighty        3:30–4:30pm Mojo Morganfield &
this year, is thoroughly enjoying a late-   The Mannish Boyz
in-life celebrityhood that is rare for             Joseph “Mojo” Morganfield,           Friday, June 21 &
a bass player. Born in 1939 in Hayti,       youngest son of Chicago blues
Missouri, Stroger came to Chicago           legend Muddy Waters, is the latest of       Saturday, June 22
in 1955. He anchored the bands of           Waters’ musical heirs to hit the stage.
Eddie King in the ’60s, Otis Rush in
the ’70s and ’80s, Sunnyland Slim in
                                            He first appeared at the Chicago
                                            Blues Festival with his brother Big Bill
                                                                                                   2019
the ’80s and ’90s, and more recently,       Morganfield in 2017. Joseph was only
                                                                                                      Now at
Mississippi Heat, before teaming            in high school when his father died,
up with Pinetop Perkins, Willie “Big        nonetheless he was able to learn a few          CHIPPEWA
Eyes” Smith, Kenny Smith and Frank          things on guitar from him, and also
Krakowski, recording with them on the       from his father’s rhythm guitarist, Bob     RIVERFRONT PARK
Grammy® Award-winning Telarc CD,            Margolin. At that time he was living             in Chippewa Falls, WI
Joined at the Hip, in 2010. In 2006         in the large, five bedroom house in
he and his old friend and Sunnyland         Westmont that Waters bought late in
Slim bandmate, saxophonist Sam              his life, when he consolidated many
Burckhardt, produced Bob Is Back in
                                                                                        NON-STOP
                                            of the family members under one roof.
Town on the Airway imprint, the first       Joseph credits his father with saving
domestic solo release in his name.          him from a life of drugs and gangs
His most recent project is the 2014
collaboration with drummer Kenny
                                            by making that move. Joseph “Mojo”
                                            Morganfield has recently released            MUSIC
Smith, Keepin’ it Together.                 Mojo Risin’, a self-produced, 4-song
                                            EP that pays tribute to his father’s           over 2 days
2–3pm Kenny Smith & The House               musical legacy with two covers and
Bumpers                                     two original numbers written by Terry         on the RIVER
       Kenny Smith, son of the late,        Abrahamson (who wrote for Muddy
great Muddy Waters’ drummer Willie          himself during Waters’ Chess Records          DOWNTOWN
Smith, has taken big strides in his
father’s shoes, hewing to the tradition
                                            days) and Derrick Procell. Backing him
                                            are guitarists Rick Kreher of Muddy’s
                                                                                        CHIPPEWA FALLS!
he knows and loves so well and ably         final band, Maurice John Vaughn and
carrying it forward. But Kenny, who
is not only a master of his instrument
                                            Mike Wheeler.                                      Featuring
but also a knowledgeable student            5–6pm Mzz Reese                                    12 Bands!
of the history of American music,                 Representing Chicago’s west
is also a product of a newer and            side blues tradition is Mzz Reese and         Tickets Available online at:
younger generation. Kenny Smith &           her band, Reese’s Pieces. The husky         northwoodsbluesfest.com
The House Bumpers’ latest release           voiced Reese has the vocal ability to       facebook.com/NorthwoodsBluesFestival/
Drop the Hammer on his own Big              hold powerful command of a crowd                FREE SHUTTLE SERVICE
Eye label takes some interesting            with her direct, pleading delivery and                 between Hotels &
liberties with tradition. On guitar he      a repertoire of solid soul standards          Eagle Ridge Campground to Venue!

has employed Buddy Guy’s son Greg           and southern soul blues, which to
and former Willie Kent sideman (and         this day remain the staples at west

11               CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                    JUNE 2019
side Chicago clubs such as Dr. J’s        Club on West Roosevelt Road in the          Doctor Ross and Joe Hill Louis, Gerry
Lounge, Gene’s Playmate Lounge,           early 1970s. The self-taught guitar         Hundt is a guitar-pickin’, drum-
The Waterhole, Rooster’s Palace and       player and singer grew through his          thumpin’, kazoo-blowin’ mashup of
Bricks, where she and her band can        associations with singer Mary Lane,         Blind Boy Fuller, Rube Goldberg and
be found performing with regularity.      soul and R&B singer Johnny Christian        the entire Mississippi Sheiks. Hundt
She has also performed at Rosa’s          and sax man A.C. Reed, who hired            has at least two one-man band rigs:
Lounge, and also with John Primer &       him in 1987 to be a member of his           one is his standard street-corner multi-
The Real Deal Blues Band at Buddy         Sparkplugs band. After three years          instrumental racket-maker and the
Guy’s Legends in the South Loop.          with Reed, Kelly chose to go on his         other a walking personal thundering
                                          own and formed the Backstreet Blues         blues calliope (picture Dick Van Dyke
6:30–7:30pm Breezy Rodio                  Band. At various times in the early         in Mary Poppins, only much hipper).
       Breezy Rodio (born Fabrizio        years, his band included guitarist John     You can expect to hear fine finger-
Rodio in Rome, Italy), former rhythm      Primer and saxophonist Eddie Shaw.          picking blues, sweet ragtime, hokum,
guitarist and bandleader for Chicago      Signed by Wolf Records of Austria in        gospel melodies and early amplified
guitarist Linsey Alexander’s band, with   1992, he has recorded several CDs for       Chicago blues—all conjuring the spirit
whom he recorded three albums—two         them, including Call Me, which won          of a raucous, drum-crashing, cone-
on the Delmark label, has broken out      the Living Blues magazine award for         rattling, shout-through-the-harp-mike
as a bandleader in his own right. HIs     Best New Recording of 1994 (he also         Sunday morning at the Maxwell Street
first blues recording was the 2001        was chosen for Artist Deserving Wider       Market.
self-produced Playing My Game             Recognition), and Joyriding in the
Too, which included guest guitarists      Subway, with contributing lyrics and
Lurrie Bell, Rockin’ Johnny, Dave         vocals from his daughter Vivian (who
Herrero, Linsey Alexander and Guy         has also recorded and is now pursuing
King, He followed with a reggae album     her own musical career). In 2018
Tribute to the Cool Ruler (reggae         Vance Kelly released How Can I Miss
being his secondary musical love)         You When You Won’t Leave, his ninth
before releasing So Close to It (2015),   Wolf recording.
which reached the number two spot
in the Chicago Blues category of the            PARK GRILL STAGE
                                                                                       ERIC NODEN
Roots Music Report. He again self-                Emcee: WDCB
produced the beautifully-engineered
Sometimes the Blues Got Me (with
                                          2–2:45pm Gerry Hundt’s Legendary            3–3:45pm Eric Noden
guest harpist Billy Branch), which was
                                          One-Man Band                                      Eric Noden has developed a fine
picked up by Delmark Records for
                                                Gerry Hundt is likely known to        reputation for his percussive guitar
national and Japanese release. The
                                          many blues fans as the singer-              style, which is rooted in the pre-war
big-band inspired recording sparkles
                                          songwriting multi-instrumentalist           blues traditions of such legendary
throughout with clean guitar lines,
                                          (guitar, bass, harmonica, mandolin and      artists as Mississippi John Hurt,
masterfully played, and with plush,
                                          more) touring and recording sidekick        Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson
richly-layered arrangements in which
                                                                    to Corey          and the Reverend Gary Davis. In
the horns evoke the early recorded
                                                                    Dennison,         addition to teaching in the Blues in
orchestrations of T-Bone Walker and
                                                                    and prior to      the Schools program, Noden has
B.B. King.
                                                                    that, guitarist   frequently worked alongside blues
                                                                    Nick Moss.
8–9pm Vance “Guitar” Kelly & The                                                      harmonica maven and fellow Old Town
                                                                    But he has
Backstreet Blues Band                                                                 School of Folk Music staff member
                                                                    long enjoyed
      Born on Chicago’s near-west                                                     Joe Filisko. In addition to his own
                                                                    a musical
side on January 24, 1954, singer and                                                  outstanding recordings, and those
                                                                    alter-ego as
guitarist Vance Kelly must certainly                                                  made as a member of the Sanctified
                                                                    a one-man
be known today to every Chicago                                                       Grumblers, he accompanied Chicago
                                                                    band.
blues fan, and to countless overseas                                                  harmonica legend Billy Boy Arnold
                                                                    Inspired by
fans as well. He and his west-side                                                    on Billy Boy Arnold Sings Big Bill
                                                                    the spirits of
guitar picking have been a staple at                                                  Broonzy, a critically-acclaimed
                                           GERRY HUNDT              Jesse “Lone
Chicago blues clubs since he first                                                    recording of Broonzy compositions.
                                                                    Cat” Fuller,
took the stage at the fabled 1815

14              CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                    JUNE 2019
His most recent release is the self-        American to acquire bona fides in         forgot his inspirations, and in 2008
produced Destination Unknown, his           post-war Chicago blues, playing           he recorded a lovely tribute CD on
fifth recording in partnership with Joe     alongside Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf      Electro-Fi, Billy Boy Arnold Sings
Filisko.                                    and others and befriending Big Walter     Sonny Boy Williamson, which he
                                            Horton in the early 1960s. He earned      followed in 2012 with a tribute to
4–4:45pm Jimmy Nick & Don’t Tell            the nickname “Memphis Charlie”            another hero, Big Bill Broonzy—both
Mama                                        before heading off to California in the   recordings notable for their fresh-
      Singer and guitarist Jimmy            late 1960s. He has issued more than       sounding, period feel. Even more
Nick cites as influences Howlin’            30 recordings over a 53-year recording    recently he recorded The Blues Soul
Wolf, Chuck Berry, Elmore James,            history including three nominated for     of Billy Boy Arnold for Stony Plain in
Bobby Rush and Angus Young of AC/           Grammy® Awards, and he won the            2014. Billy Boy Arnold was inducted
DC, and he credits the veteran blues        Grammy® Award for Best Blues              into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of
musicians he first sat in with at north     Recording in 2014 for Get Up! with        Fame in 2012. This should prove to
side Chicago clubs like Kingston            singer and guitarist Ben Harper. On his   be a magical pairing of two Hall of
Mines, Rosa’s Lounge and B.L.U.E.S.         latest, No Mercy in This Land, he is      Famers. Billy Boy went on the road
on Halsted with teaching him a few          again paired with Ben Harper. In 2014     playing bass for Charlie in the 1960s
things. He has now won a handful of         and 2015 he won Blues Music Awards        and Charlie does some of his material.
honors, including twice becoming a          for Best Instrumentalist–Harmonica
semi-finalist in the annual International   and has to date amassed 33 BMAs           6:30–7:30pm Jimmy Johnson Blues
Blues Challenge in Memphis (2013            overall. Charlie Musselwhite was          Band
and 2016), and has recorded several         inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in           Jimmy Johnson, age 90, whom
CDs, the latest of which is titled          2010.                                     this writer has called “the Charles
Dangerous Decisions & Bad Things.                                                     Atlas of Chicago blues and soul, and
The former high school jock from north                                                the Dorian Gray of guitar,” has just
suburban Crystal Lake puts on a wild                                                  recorded a new CD, his fourth, for
stage show with his band of local                                                     Delmark. Brother to both Chicago soul
stalwarts, getting physical with high                                                 icon Syl Johnson and the late bassist
kicks, jumping, leaping, crawling—and                                                 Mack Thompson, Jimmy Johnson
head shaking, bobbing and facial
                                                                                      has amassed an impressive catalog
expressions that alone may be medal-
                                                                                      of recordings—all since turning 50
worthy.
                                                                                      years of age—on such respected
       ROSA’S LOUNGE                                                                  labels as Delmark, MCM, Verve,
     Emcee: Tony Mangiullo                                                            Alligator, Storyville and Ruf Records.
11am–9pm Daily showcase of                                                            Johnson, who sang gospel and
Chicago Blues legends and emerging                                                    backed all the Chicago soul greats
                                            BILLY BOY ARNOLD                          after coming to Chicago from Holly
artists that have called Rosa’s Lounge      PHOTO BY PAUL NATKIN
home over the last 35 years.                                                          Springs, Mississippi, has said that he’s
                                                   Chicago-born Billy Boy Arnold      still learning the blues. Nonetheless,
      JAY PRITZKER                          idolized Bluebird recording star Sonny    the former welder exudes a jazzy
        PAVILION                            Boy Williamson as a boy and would
                                            go to his Bronzeville home for lessons,
                                                                                      sophistication in his polished blues
                                                                                      repertoire (for years his break song
  Emcee: Tom Marker                         up until Williamson’s brutal murder.
                                            Arnold’s classic early compositions,
                                                                                      was Dave Brubeck’s reading of Paul
                                                                                      Desmond’s classic “Take Five”), and
                                            covered by many artists over the          even collaborated on an album of
5–6:15pm Charlie Musselwhite with           years (notably The Yardbirds, The
special guest Billy Boy Arnold                                                        Persian traditional music, Beyond
                                            Paladins and David Bowie), include
     Charlie Musselwhite was born                                                     Any Form (2014). He is a Chicago
                                            “I Wish You Would,” “Ain’t Got You,”
in Kosciusko, Mississippi, and raised                                                 musical treasure and ought rightly to
                                            and “Rockinitis,” and he also played
in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was         harmonica on Bo Diddley’s timeless        be an internationally-heralded celebrity
mentored on harmonica by Will Shade,        “I’m a Man.” He retreated from music      for his sublime, soul-imbued vocals,
founder of the Memphis Jug Band. He         for a while, then resurfaced with two     ethereal guitar work and solid stage
came to Chicago for a factory job and       fine recordings for Alligator Records     presence.
became arguably the first non-African       in the 1990s. However he never

15               CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                   JUNE 2019
7:45–9pm Bobby Rush                                                Henry Townsend, Knox has unimpeachable credentials
      Perhaps the finest showman in blues today, guitarist,        and a bedrock foundation for a blues career. Sam Lay,
harp blower, singer and songwriter Bobby Rush was born             who met Knox in Clarksdale, Mississippi, provided
Emmett Ellis, Jr. in 1937 in Homer, Louisiana. He moved to         the connections that led to a three-CD deal with Chad
Chicago as a young man to sing blues, then soul and funk.          Kassem’s APO label. Manchild, the first of these,
After recording a few singles in Chicago in the 1960s, his         recorded when he was 16, was nominated for the Blues
now-classic Chicken Heads (1971) went to number 34 on              Foundation’s Best Debut award, and won Living Blues
Billboard’s soul charts and has remained a rousing jukebox         magazine’s 2010 Best Debut Recording award as well.
favorite and bar-band standard both north and south. After         Knox has recently teamed with Alonzo Townsend,
several moves among styles and geographical locations,             Henry’s son, to present a two man show on the elder
retaining a strong grasp of each, he has called Jackson,           Townsend’s life in stories and music. Knox has fully
Mississippi, home for more than 30 years and “folk-funk” his       recovered from a stab wound to the neck sustained in
style of music. Rush seems to be able to produce award-            an attack in 2017. Also that year his current CD Black
worthy CDs at an astonishing pace (nearly one every year           And Blue was released.
since 2003), including the full-frontal assault Folkfunk (2004),
the acoustic Raw (2007), Down in Louisiana (2013) and,             1:30–2:45pm Rico McFarland, Carl Weathersby and
most recently Porcupine Meat, which won the Grammy®                Wayne Baker Brooks
Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2017. But it’s his             Chicago guitarist Rico McFarland learned a few
incredible stage shows, complete with tight rhythms, punchy        things from a couple of lesser-known but significant
horns and well-endowed dancers, that may be his biggest            bluesmen, Big Guitar Red and Willie Hudson, who had
hits. Bobby Rush, now in his 80s, is smokin’ hot after more        played with his father, a musician before him. McFarland
than fifty years as a performer and is a huge star of the          advanced to become a much in-demand sideman
southern “chitlin circuit” as well as blues festivals around       and studio guitarist for such local luminaries as Jimmy
the world. Rush was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in        Johnson, Big Time Sarah, Cicero Blake, Artie “Blues
2006.                                                              Boy” White, Valerie Wellington and several others. He
                                                                   and his band Amuzement Park also achieved some
            SATURDAY, JUNE 8                                       mainstream success. In 2001 McFarland recorded a
    BUDWEISER CROSSROADS STAGE                                     solo album, Tired of Being Alone (Evidence Records),
                                                                   but he may be best known for his playing behind James
 (Chase Promenade South) Emcee: WDCB                               Cotton, Lucky Peterson and harp monster Sugar Blue,
                                                                   with whom he has appeared on five recordings. In
11am–Noon Melody Angel
                                                                   addition he has recorded twice with his old friend Carl
      Beautifully named by her mother, who also gave her a
                                                                   Weathersby, who joins him today.
pawnshop Stratocaster for her 15th birthday, Melody Angel
                                                                         Carl Weathersby came to East Chicago from
proudly represents the south side of Chicago. Possessed
                                                                   Jackson, Mississippi as a child. He got a few guitar
of a killer, passionate voice, with a terrific vocal range and
                                                                   pointers early on from the neighborhood mechanic
impressive stage presence, Angel has a repertoire that covers
                                                                   and friend of his father’s, who as it turned out was
a wide range of folk, blues, urban, country, R&B, and pop,
                                                                   Albert King and years later hired him to play in his
and her performances have drawn comparisons to those of
                                                                   band. After serving in Vietnam and putting in years of
Mary J. Blige and Tracy Chapman, among others. But she is
                                                                   gigging, touring, and recording, he has finally achieved
beginning to forge an identity for herself with some original
                                                                   a respected seniority status on the scene. In 2017 Carl
material that melds her emotionally-charged vocals with
                                                                   Weathersby was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of
some capable storytelling, tackling personal issues and urban
                                                                   Fame. His musical resume includes fifteen years touring
themes such as drive-by shootings. A self-taught guitarist,
                                                                   and recording as a member of Sons of Blues with Billy
she still plays that pawnshop Strat. She has recorded two
                                                                   Branch, five albums with Mississippi Heat, and eight
albums to date, the most recent of which is Angels &
                                                                   albums of his own.
Melodies.
                                                                         Guitarist Wayne Baker Brooks, the youngest
                                                                   son of Chicago bluesman Lonnie Brooks, was born in
12:15–1:15 pm Marquise Knox                                        Chicago in 1970. He first served an apprenticeship in
       Young blues performer Marquise Knox, born in 1991 in        his father’s band from 1990 to 1997 before forming a
St. Louis, boldly avers that the blues is his heritage and way     band of his own. In 2004 he recorded Mystery (Blues
of life. Raised with the knowledge of the blues’ deep history      Island Records), which melded blues with a bit of
in his own family, and first taught guitar by his grandmother,     rock and funk, and in 2012 he released the EP Tricks
then mentored by the late, legendary guitarist/pianist/singer      Up My Sleeves. Brooks is a co-author of Blues for

16               CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                 JUNE 2019
Dummies (Wiley & Sons, 1998) and          featured in television shows and movie    hometown of Jackson, Mississippi
appeared in the film Blues Brothers       soundtracks.                              where he has long been a fixture
2000.                                            Often credited as one of the       and an essential player in the storied
                                          founders of alt-country, Jimmie Dale      Farish Street blues scene. Born a
3–4pm Billy Boy Arnold                    Gilmore also writes poetic lyrics and     preacher’s son in Benton, Mississippi
     See Friday’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion   blends elements of folk, rock, country,   in 1944 and raised in Mileston, he
schedule above for Billy Boy Arnold’s     blues and bluegrass. Born in Amarillo,    first played guitar in church when not
biography.                                Texas his father played guitar in a       working on the family farm. He met the
                                          honky tonk band. The family moved to      great Elmore James in Jackson as a
4:15–5:30pm Dave Alvin & Jimmie           Lubbock, the birthplace of many great     teen and soon was playing with Sam
Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones         musicians, where, when he was 12,         Myers, Jimmy King, Duke Huddleston
       Musically, they might be           he met Butch Hancock and later Joe        and others. In his 20s he worked in a
considered a shotgun marriage of          Ely who introduced him to the music       television factory in Chicago and on
rockabilly, alt rock, blues, and outlaw   of master songwriter Townes Van           weekends sat in with heavyweights
country, but Dave Alvin and Jimmie        Zandt. A few years after, Gilmore, Ely,   Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Magic Sam,
Dale Gilmore are definitely an auditory   and Hancock formed the Flatlanders.       and Freddie King. In 1971 he moved
treat of traditional American music at    They recorded their first album in 1972   permanently back to Jackson, and
its finest.                               (as an 8-track only, but reissued in      took up residency with his band at the
                                          1991), but then, lacking promotion,       Avalon Court and later hosted Blue
                                          the band broke up. Gilmore left music     Mondays at Dorsey’s which led to long
                                          and moved around the country before       stints working with Little Milton and
                                          settling in 1980 in Austin where he       then as bandleader for Bobby Rush
                                          began playing regular gigs. Finally, in   with whom he recorded. In the late
                                          1988, Gilmore released his debut solo     1980s he was a regular performer at
                                          album, Fair and Square, followed by       the Subway Lounge (and appeared
                                          his 1989 self-titled album. Gilmore       in the documentary film Last of the
                                          soon signed with Elektra Nonesuch,        Mississippi Jukes), and in the 1990s
                                          with whom he released three albums,       began Blue Mondays at Fields Cafe
DAVE ALVIN & JIMMIE DALE                  including the Grammy© Award-              on Farish Street. He has been honored
                                          nominated albums, Spinning Around         with a mention on five Mississippi
       Dave Alvin and his brother Phil    the Sun, and Braver Newer World.          Blues Trail markers. A song he wrote
formed The Blasters in 1979, known        Gilmore has released two solo albums      with Cassandra Wilson, “Show Me a
for their Americana mix of rockabilly,    on Rounder, one the Grammy© Award-        Love,” appeared on her Belly of the
punk, and alt rock. Dave left around      nominated Come on Back, produced          Sun CD in 2002. His first album, Blues
1986 to play in LLos Angeles-based        by Joe Ely. In 2011, Gilmore recorded     Child, was released in 2004.
alt and punk bands Gun Club, X            Heirloom Music, an album of “old-
and The Knitters, appearing on two        timey” songs. Today, he appears and       12:30–1:30pm Super Chikan
Knitters albums. He recorded four         tours with different amalgamations of            A favorite of several previous
solo albums rich with his poetic          old friends, including his former band,   Chicago Blues Festivals, Mississippi
song-writing and knowledge of             The Flatlanders, and of course, Dave      folk artist and musician James “Super
roots music before scoring big with       Alvin.                                    Chikan” Johnson is a true original.
his fifth—Public Domain: Songs                                                      The jovial, gold-toothed free spirit is
From the Wild Land—a collection
                                               VISIT MISSISSIPPI                    the nephew of Big Jack Johnson, “The
of traditional folk and blues classics
which won the 1997 Grammy© Award              JUKE JOINT STAGE                      Oil Man” of Clarksdale, Mississippi
                                                                                    fame, whose band The Jelly Roll Kings
for Best Contemporary Folk Album.          (Chase Promenade North)
                                                                                    gave him his start as a young man. His
He reunited with his brother Phil to          Emcee: Kamel King                     “Super Chikan” nickname harks back
revisit their love for blues, recording                                             to his boyhood penchant for following
Common Ground (2014), a set of Big        11:15am–12:15pm Jesse “Guitar”            the chickens around the yard, talking
Bill Broonzy songs, and Lost Time         Robinson                                  to them. Starting with a primitive one-
(2015) a collection of covers including          Jesse “Guitar” Robinson            string diddley bow he graduated to an
four titles by Big Joe Turner. Dave       has covered a bit of ground in his        acoustic guitar that was lacking four of
Alvin’s songs have been covered by        lifetime of playing the blues but is      its strings and bought at a Salvation
dozens of major artists and his music     most associated with his adopted          Army store. Eventually he began

17               CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                 JUNE 2019
selling his own brightly decorated        Teardrops. While still with Slim, he       4:15–5:30pm Jam Session with
stringed instruments made out of junk     recorded CDs as a bandleader on the        Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith
and found items—gas cans, motors,         Code Blue, Earwig and Wolf labels.         See Friday’s Visit Mississippi Juke
toolboxes—even an old shotgun.            By the mid ’90s he was working with        Joint Stage for jam description and
Mostly performing solo, he has            his own unit, The Real Deal Blues          Friday’s Front Porch Stage for more
recorded eight albums since his 1997      Band, and was touring nationally           information on Kenny Smith.
debut, Blues Come Home to Roost.          and internationally. In 2010 he was
Super Chikan has toured                   nominated for a Grammy© Award for             FRONT PORCH STAGE
internationally and has even played for   his role on Chicago Blues: A Living              (Wrigley Square)
the President of the United States. But   History. To date he has issued more
his regular gig remains Morgan            than a dozen albums. The most
                                                                                         Emcee: Mike Jeffers
Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club in       recent of these is this year’s Soul of        Chicago Jazz Magazine
Clarksdale, where he is reportedly        a Blues Man, his third release on his
Freeman’s favorite artist.                own Blues House label. Nominated           11am–Noon Mary Lane
                                          for Traditional Blues Male Artist of             West side singer Mary Lane has
                                          the Year in 2013 and 2014, Primer          lived a life in the blues. Born in
                                          deservedly won this coveted award          Clarendon, Arkansas in 1935, in the
                                          from the Blues Foundation in 2016.         cotton country southwest of Memphis,
                                                                                     she began singing as a teen with now-
                                          3–4pm O.B. Buchana                         legendary musicians Robert
                                                O. B. Buchana was born               Nighthawk and Joe Hill Louis and sat
                                          in Mound Bayou, Mississippi in             in with Howlin’ Wolf at her uncle’s
                                                                                     place, The White Swan, in Brinkley,
                                          the 1960s and spent his youth in
                                                                                     Arkansas. As a young mother, she
                                          Clarksdale, Mississippi. He began
                                                                                     moved in 1957 to Waukegan, Illinois
                                          his musical career at the age of eight
                                                                                     where at a club one night she sat in
                                          singing gospel songs in a Baptist
                                                                                     with guitarist Morris Pejoe. It evidently
                                          church choir. When still a teenager,
                                                                                     went well because they eventually
                                          he became lead singer of the gospel
                                          group The Mighty Suns of God. In the
  JOHN PRIMER                             early 1990s O. B. signed with Blue
                                          River Records and released the single,
                                          “Back Up Lover,” which became a big
1:45–2:45pm John Primer & The             hit. Soon after, O. B. signed with Suzie
Real Deal Blues Band                      Q Records in Shreveport, Louisiana
      John Primer, now with two           and recorded two CDs: It’s Over and I
Grammy© Award nominations under           Got Caught, both of which sold well,
his belt, only grows in stature and       the songs “Let’s Get Drunk” and “I
significance with every passing year      Can’t Choose” receiving much radio
as an elder of the Chicago blues          play throughout the southern states.
scene. He was a principal in the bands    Memphis-based Ecko Records signed
of Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters (until      Buchana in 2004 to record Shake
his 1983 death) and then Magic Slim
                                          What You Got, which included the
until going on his own in 1995. His
                                          hits “That’s My Bad” and “Shake What
signature guitar “lump” has become
                                          You Got,” and followed it soon after
synonymous with Chicago blues. Born
                                          with I Can’t Stop Drinking. Buchana,
in Camden, Mississippi in 1945, Primer
                                          who cites as inspirations Tyrone Davis,
ultimately worked his way up to join
                                          Bobby Blue Bland, Johnny Taylor and          MARY LANE
the house band at Chicago’s famed
                                          Marvin Sease, has amassed quite an           PHOTO BY PAUL NATKIN
Theresa’s Lounge in 1974 before being
                                          impressive recorded catalog at this
hired by the great Muddy Waters as
guitarist and bandleader in 1980.         point. He and his band—two keyboard        moved together to Chicago where she
After Waters’ passing, he then logged     players, guitar, bass, drums and three     sang with his band through the 1960s
more than a decade with Magic             background singers—have been               (along with Henry Gray and Willie
Slim’s touring and recording unit The     together for an impressive 25 years.       Young, before those two left to join

18              CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                    JUNE 2019
Howlin’ Wolf’s band), and had three       native south side Chicagoan, is             played electric combo blues. Also a
daughters before their marriage           renowned for his Hammond B3                 fine singer, Spann recorded early in
ended. She became good friends with       playing inspired by the playing of          his career with Jody Williams, B.B.
Magic Sam, Otis Rush and Elmore           Jimmy Smith, Richard “Groove”               King, Chuck Berry, Walter Horton and
James and worked at the Avenue            Holmes and Jimmy McGriff. He has            Robert Jr. Lockwood, and appeared
Lounge on West Madison Street and         recorded two CDs with the Deep Blue         on a smattering of albums, a few of
Pepper’s and Theresa’s on Chicago’s       Organ Trio for Origin Records and           them as bandleader. Connoisseurs
south side, before settling on the west   two for Delmark Records. For several        also treasure the few numbers he
side where the locals played the more     years Foreman performed with singer         recorded as a duo with his dear friend,
raw-sounding blues that she preferred.    Kimberly Gordon at the historic Green       drummer S.P. Leary, as intimately
Apart from an unissued single in the      Mill jazz club in Chicago’s Uptown          captured on Vanguard’s Chicago The
1960s and an obscure 1970s 45, she        neighborhood and, with her, recorded        Blues Today, Vol. 1. Spann was only
had recorded only a few tracks for        Melancholy Serenade on the Sirens           in his forties when he died in 1970.
Wolf Records in the 1990s before she      label in 2005. Foreman released his
made her first full recording in 1997,    own CD Now is the Time on Sirens in         3:30–4:30pm Dom Flemons
Appointment with the Blues (Noir).        2013. Chris Foreman currently plays                Multi-instrumentalist and
Today she continues to make local         a solo set, “The Flipside Show,” every      “American songster” Dom Flemons
appearances in Chicago, the suburbs       Friday at the Green Mill jazz club and      won one Grammy© Award for his work
and northwest Indiana with her No         also performs there for the immensely       with the trailblazing African-American
Static Blues Band, anchored by her        popular late set every Sunday, in           string band, the Carolina Chocolate
husband, bassist Jeffery Labon, often     partnership with Joel Paterson and          Drops (cited by the Guardian as,
performing before crowds who know         drummer Mike Schlick. He is also a          “the most electrifying acoustic act
little to nothing of her incredible       major part of the Soul Message Band’s       around” and praised by Rolling
history, but who are moved                2019 Delmark CD Soulful Days.               Stone magazine for their “dirt-floor
nonetheless by her simple, sincere                                                    dance electricity”), of which he was
and soulful singing. She is the subject   2–3pm Chicago Blues Piano                   a founding member. He was recently
of a new documentary titled I Can         Master—A Tribute to Otis Spann              nominated for another Grammy©
Only Be Mary Lane and her recently        with Oscar Wilson, Johnny                   Award for his own recording,
released CD Travelin’ Woman .             Iguana, Sumito Ariyoshi, Rie                Black Cowboys (2018), a musical
                                          Kanehira, Roosevelt Purifoy,                exploration of the contributions of
12:30–1:30pm Joel Paterson Organ          Harlan Terson, Frank Krakowski              African Americans to the shaping of
Trio featuring Chris Foreman              and Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith                the American west. To date, he has
      The measure of Joel Paterson’s             Those who think that blues           released five albums under his own
musicianship may be approximated          is about volume and speed, that it          name. His research and musicianship
by the number of bands with which he      requires shouting or that it’s about        with The Carolina Chocolate Drops as
is concurrently working: The Modern       guitar, need to know about pianist          well as on his own has breathed new
Sounds, The Cash Box Kings, Devil in      Otis Spann. There are few piano             life into and reclaimed the nearly lost
a Woodpile, The Western Elstons and       players who play like Otis Spann—           celebratory music of early rural African
the Joel Paterson Trio—which may          but then how would one capture that         Americans. Originally passionate for
not even represent a full accounting.     facility and originality, that ability to   the music of the Carolina Piedmont
He has recorded and produced a tidy       play a solo that elegantly dovetails        region in particular, Flemons has,
catalog of CDs on his own Ventrella       into, or contrasts with, the mood, or       through research, record collecting
label, including sessions with Carl       that unanticipated and heart stopping       and collaboration, moved his quest
“Sonny” Leyland and three with The        yet nearly unobtrusive fill?                further west to document the
Modern Sounds. He has recorded                   Born in either Jackson or            previously-misunderstood breadth
with harpist Jim Liban, The Cash Box      Belzoni, Mississippi, Otis Spann            of African-American influence on the
Kings, Honeyboy Edwards, The Four         came to Chicago in 1946 and was             music of this county.
Charms, Deke Dickerson and Wanda          mentored by Big Maceo Merriweather,
Jackson. He is truly a masterful          eventually replacing him in Muddy           5–6pm Bridges to the Blues
guitarist and a tastefully cool cat who   Waters’ band. His life’s work is largely          Supported by the Chicago
brings old instruments and vintage        defined by the tracks he recorded with      Department of Cultural Affairs &
rock, blues, country and jazz tunes to    Muddy Waters—approximately 100              Special Events (DCASE) and facilitated
renewed life.                             studio sides—over a 17-year tenure          by Art of Culture, Inc., Bridges to the
      Organist Chris Foreman, a           with arguably the best band that ever       Blues is a multi-generational program

20              CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                    JUNE 2019
that challenges young Chicago              8–9pm Lurrie Bell                          and grateful survivor and a true
musicians working in diverse genres              Lurrie Bell split his early          Chicago treasure—not to mention one
to re-imagine the blues. Program           years between his grandparents in          incredible guitar player.
participants learn blues fundamentals      Mississippi and his family in Chicago,
from Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, one         where, as the son of blues harmonica             PARK GRILL STAGE
of todays’ best blues drummers, as         great Carey Bell, he was often in the              Emcee: WDCB
well as songwriting and performance        presence of many of the luminaries
best practices from Oscar and multi-       of the Chicago blues scene passing         2–2:45pm Dom Flemons
Grammy® Award-winning artist               through his house. He picked up                 See today’s Front Porch Stage
Che “Rhymefest” Smith. They then           guitar quickly and by the age of 19        above for Dom Flemons’ biography.
collaborate on original music and          was a founding member of Sons of
audition for an opportunity to perform     Blues with Billy Branch and Freddie        3–3:45pm Harmonica Hinds
at the festival.                           Dixon (Willie’s son), recording and              Making a return to the Chicago
                                           touring with them as well as with          Blues Fest stages is Mervyn
6:30–7:30pm Morry Sochat & The             singer Koko Taylor as her guitarist.       “Harmonica” Hinds, who was born
Special 20s                                Recordings he made with his father         on the island of Trinidad and arrived in
       Morry Sochat and The Special        and other artists were well received,      Chicago in the 1970s by way of New
20s have crafted their music and stage     but he was personally struggling.          Orleans and Canada. Through much of
presence to evoke a sophisticated and      With assistance, he pulled out and         the 1970s Hinds was a member of the
sexy musical era that might have           ultimately triumphed with a string of      house band at Chicago’s legendary
existed—in terms of style—                 four excellent recordings for Delmark,     Theresa’s, alongside Junior Wells,
somewhere between the age of the           a 2004 duet with his father on the         Sammy Lawhorn, Nate Applewhite
territory bands and Mad Men, but with      Alligator label, and a self-produced CD    and John Primer. In 1977 he was
largely original compositions based on     Let’s Talk About Love, which critics       selected to travel to the Berlin Jazz
classic 1950s rock ’n’ roll, swing music   raved about. In 2009 he appeared on        Festival as a member of “The New
and Chicago blues. Bandleader Morry        both volumes of Chicago Blues: A           Generation of Chicago Blues,” along
Sochat (pronounced ‘sock-et’) picked       Living History, earning a Grammy©          with Billy Branch, Freddie Dixon,
up the harmonica after moving to           Award nomination. He started his own       Lurrie Bell, Larry Taylor and others.
Chicago from Texas in 1990 and             Aria BG label in 2012 and released         He has performed and recorded with
played in a couple of local bands          The Devil Ain’t Got No Music, a            well-known Chicago blues artists
before creating The Special 20s in         sensitive and celebrated revisiting of     Koko Taylor, Eddie Taylor Jr., Moose
2005. In 2006 they released their first,   the acoustic blues and gospel music        Walker and Larry “Mud” Morganfield.
eponymous album, and the following         of his youth, and he was honored           For several years he has appeared
year issued Swingin’ Shufflin’             with the Prix du Blues award from the      in regular rotation at Buddy Guy’s
Smokin’, produced by fellow                prestigious French L’Academie du           Legends, performing solo, as a duo
bandleader and guitarist Nick Moss.        Jazz for the Best Blues Recording of       (with the late Eddie Taylor, Jr.) and
By 2010 when they recorded Eatin’          2012. He re-signed with Delmark for        occasionally with his own band. In
Dirt (produced by Jimmy Sutton), they      the 2013 Blues in My Soul, a return to     2012 the Wolf label of Austria released
had added a horn section, which has        straight-ahead Chicago blues; the title    I’d Give You Anything If I Could,
come to define their current sound—        track, which he wrote, won a Blues         a compilation of tracks from Hinds’
full vintage and well-orchestrated.        Music Award for Song Of The Year. In       earlier self-released CDs.
Their most recent album, released in       2015 he won the Blues Foundation’s
2015, is titled Dig In.                    award for Best Traditional Male Blues      4–4:45pm Doktu Rhute Muuzic
                                           Artist. Can’t Shake This Feeling,                Singer, guitarist, actor, and
                                           recorded for Delmark in 2016, was          educator Roy Hytower changed his
                                           nominated for a Grammy© Award and          name to Doktu Rhute Muuzic several
                                           earned another Blues Music Award           years ago, in part because he had
                                           for Traditional Recording Of The           became known internationally for
                                           Year.. And last year, Lurrie returned      his signature number Root Doctor,
                                           to Delmark—with his brothers Steve,        and also to both honor his father,
                                           James and Tyson—to record Lurrie           an herbalist or root doctor, and
                                           Bell and the Bell Dynasty: A Tribute       incorporate aspects of the principles
  MORRY SOCHAT                             to Carey Bell. Lurrie Bell is a jubilant   of Kwanzaa. Originally from Mobile,

21               CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                   JUNE 2019
Alabama, Hytower came to Chicago         2003, releasing Latt Is Back, and         Memphis-based Bo-Keys. With them,
in 1962 where he cut some soul           reconnected with his old friend Henry     he recorded the album Don’t Give Up
singles for small, indie labels Avin,    Stone—for whom he first recorded in       on Love, released by Fat Possum in
Anthem, Jiffy, Expo, Brainstorm and      the 1960s—to record Back ’Atcha           2017. He was also a highlight of the
Mercury’s Blue Rock subsidiary. He       in 2007. He is also in demand as a        Take Me To The River tour. A stylish
played rhythm guitar for Otis Rush       session pianist and appeared on Joss      recent music video of him performing
for a time, as well as with other        Stone’s albums The Soul Sessions          his composition “How Do I Get There”
Chicago blues notables, but soon was     and Mind Body & Soul. In 2017,            shows him dancing and singing in fine
leading his own band. Hytower’s 1988     Latimore was inducted into the Blues      form, a great indication of the treat we
album Root Doctor (with his band,        Hall of Fame.                             are in for.
Motif) was issued by Diamond Gem
Records. In recent years Hytower has     6:30–7:30pm Don Bryant                    7:45–9pm Bettye LaVette
self-released a couple of CDs under             Singer-songwriter Don Bryant,             Soul singer Bettye LaVette has
the name Doktu Rhute Muuzic. His         who began singing gospel as a child       been said to possess a voice that can
latest album All Time Favorites is on    seventy years ago, might easily be        “move from satin to sandpaper,” and
Root Doctor Records. As an actor, he     remembered solely for I Can’t Stand       her success throughout her more than
has portrayed Muddy Waters and Otis      the Rain, the enduring Top 40 hit that    50-year performing career is largely
Redding in Chicago’s Black Ensemble      he co-wrote in 1973 with vocalist Ann     due to her ability to infuse her dyed-in-
Theater (BET) productions.               Peebles, the woman he soon married.       the-wool R&B sensibility into virtually
                                         But he has gone on to be credited on      any material. After all, she grew up
       ROSA’S LOUNGE                     as many as 154 titles and has enjoyed     in a Detroit home with a jukebox
     Emcee: Tony Mangiullo               a lifetime of beautiful songwriting and   in the living room and a parade of
11am–9pm Daily showcase of               music making and could easily be said     traveling musicians dropping by.
Chicago Blues Legends and emerging       to be today in top performing shape—      At age 16, her first recording, “My
artists that have called Rosa’s Lounge   at age 77.                                Man—He’s a Loving Man,” reached
home over the last 35 years.                    The Memphis-born Bryant            the #7 spot in the R&B charts and
                                         moved from gospel to secular singing      won her a spot on a tour with Ben
      JAY PRITZKER                       as a teen and with his band The Four      E. King, Otis Redding and Clyde
        PAVILION                         Kings, began fronting Willie Mitchell’s   McPhatter. In 1965 her single “Let
                                         band for local gigs. Mitchell then        Me Down Easy” on the Calla label
            5–5:15pm
                                         hired him to sing and lead his band,      hit at the #20 R&B spot and landed
                                         and found that Bryant could also          her on TV’s Shindig. She charted
      Emcee: Tom Marker                  write songs. Bryant penned I Got          three more times in the 1960s and
                                         To Know in 1960 for the 5 Royales,        ’70s. She hung up recording for a few
5:15–6:15pm Latimore                     which Mitchell was then producing.        years to star in the touring Broadway
       Soul and R&B crooner and          In 1969 Don Bryant had a shot as a        musical Bubbling Brown Sugar with
pianist Latimore (shortened from his     solo artist himself with the release of   Honi Coles and Cab Calloway. It
birth name, Benjamin Lattimore) struck   an album, but at the time, the field      wasn’t until 1982 that she released
gold in 1974 with “Let’s Straighten      was thick with great singers and he       her first album, Tell Me A Lie, backed
It Out,” a number one R&B hit that       retreated to the writing booth. He        by the Memphis Horns on Motown.
also charted at number 31 on the         spent the 1980s and ’90s focused on       Since 2000 she has released several
Billboard Hot 100 chart and still has    writing and producing gospel albums       compilations of earlier work and five
lasting power on playlists today.        until he was invited to sing with the     CDs on the Anti- label. In 2009 she
Originally from Charleston, Tennessee,
he sang gospel before turning his
attention to R&B and moving to Miami,
where he still makes his home. He
recorded mostly covers on a number
of small labels before his first big
hit, then released five albums on the
Glades label, before moving over to
the Malaco label in 1982 where he
recorded seven albums. He signed
with Mel Waiters’ Brittney label in

23              CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL | OFFICIAL PROGRAM                                                  JUNE 2019
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