Chicago guitarist and vocalist Melody Angel combines fiery celebrations of life with equally fearless and uncompromising demands for social justice. Her style of blues-rock mixes genres and influences as freely and as pointedly as her lyrics assault the boundaries between the personal and the political. Angel counts Hendrix and Prince among her idols, and though […]
Tag: Chicago blues
Posted inMusic
Living with Muddy
In 1954, McKinley Morganfield bought his first house, located at 4339 S. Lake Park Avenue in Kenwood. Better known as Muddy Waters, the Father of Chicago Blues shared the south-side house with his wife Geneva, Geneva’s son Charles, his granddaughter Amelia “Cookie” Cooper, and his great-granddaughter Chandra “Peaches” Cooper. Quite a few people came and […]
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Blues and soul-blues group Mzz Reese & Reese’s Pieces will hit your sweet spot
Singer Mzz Reese has become a Chicagoland favorite for her burnished alto voice, expansive blues and soul-blues repertoire, and playfully flirtatious, warm-hearted stage presence. But what really sets her apart is the professionalism of her show. Reese and her band—waggishly christened Reese’s Pieces—charge through a tightly constructed set consisting of well-known standards and too-often-neglected soul […]
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The Aces helped invent the sound of electric Chicago blues
The Aces are best known as a backing band, but they took the lead when it came to the future of the blues.
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Harpist Billy Branch draws from blues history to invigorate his sound
Blues tributes are too often dire affairs—note-for-note reworkings of timeworn ideas and riffs that betray an almost puritanical obsession with “authenticity.” That approach, of course, dishonors the spirit of the music it purports to celebrate—Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Elmore James, all of whom attract frequent tributes, weren’t purists or revivalists but instead radically reimagined […]
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Report: ‘The credibility of the entire property tax system is in doubt’ in Cook County, and other Chicago news
Also, the ACLU slams Emanuel’s new police reform monitor plan.
Posted inBlogs
Police are still searching for suspects in sexual assault of 15-year-old girl streamed on Facebook, and other Chicago news
Also, a kombucha bar is opening in Logan Square later this month.
Posted inMusic
The Secret History of Chicago Music: Arthur “Big Boy” Spires
Arthritis cut short the career of bluesman Arthur “Big Boy” Spires, but not till after his raw electric sides from the 50s
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Artist on Artist: Charlie Musselwhite talks to Rockin’ Johnny Burgin
Blues harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite talks to local guitar hero Rockin’ Johnny Burgin
Posted inBlogs
Blues great David “Honeyboy” Edwards dead at 96
Blues legend David “Honeyboy” Edwards, one of the last living links to Robert Johnson, has died at 96.
Posted inBlogs
Alk of the town
Chicago Film Archives presents a series on Chicago filmmaker Howard Alk.
Posted inBlogs
Junior Wells — those were the days
A newly issued live recording made by Junior Wells in 1975 at Theresa’s delivers what’s missing from the blues today.
Posted inMusic
Al Harris
When Al Harris made an unscheduled guest appearance with the Sons of Blues at last year’s Chicago Blues Festival, an international audience learned what habitues of Maxwell Street, the now-defunct Delta Fish Market at Jackson and Kedzie, and neighborhood joints like Mr. Tee’s have known for years: that he’s a charismatic, soulful singer and showman […]