In its nearly 40-year history, the Chicago Blues Festival has frequently saluted the city’s vibrant soul-music legacy with all-star sets underscoring the connection between soul and blues. This year is no exception. On Saturday, June 11, at Pritzker Pavilion, what’s billed as a Chicago Soul Tribute pays homage to three local legends: saxophonist-producer Gene “Daddy […]
Tag: Gene Barge
Saxophonist Gene Barge helped shape the sound of Chicago R&B
Gene Barge has done his most influential work as a sideman or producer, but he’s just as important as any of R&B’s marquee stars.
Gene Barge blew his sax on some of the wildest R&B hits of the 60s
The Blues Festival pays tribute to 91-year-old saxophonist Gene “Daddy G” Barge with a set with by his longest-running band, the Chicago Rhythm & Blues Kings.
The Reader’s guide to the 2018 Chicago Blues Festival
The fest expands its footprint in Millennium Park with a diverse lineup that includes boogie-woogie pianist Erwin Helfer, southern soul-blues star Ms. Jody, and the Rising Stars Fife & Drum Band with Shardé Thomas.
The complete schedule of the 2018 Chicago Blues Festival
Every Blues Festival set on all five stages in Millennium Park, from Friday morning through Sunday night
Session drummer Morris Jennings played on Electric Mud, the Super Fly soundtrack, and scores of other records
As a house drummer for Chess Records in the late 60s, Morris Jennings kicked off a five-decade career that never brought him into the spotlight himself.
The Reader’s Guide to Chicago Blues Fest 2009
For 2009 the same financial pressures we’re all feeling have forced the Chicago Blues Festival to slim down from four days to three—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Past fests have sometimes been spread pretty thin across those four days. Many artists played multiple times on multiple stages, and some sets ran so long […]