Chicago Blues Festival Starts Today
By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 11, 2010 4:30PM
The annual Chicago Blues Festival is huge, free, a cathartically good time, and it kicks off this afternoon in Grant Park. The economy has taken a pretty big toll on Chicago Blues Festival: it used to span four days but since last year it’s been cut down to three, and whereas the line-up has previously featured big-name acts such as Bonnie Raitt, Ray Charles, B.B. King and Buddy Guy, the lowered budget simply doesn’t allow for iconic blues headliners. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as cutting costs means the fest takes a greater local focus and exposes us to the lesser known acts that help make Chicago the blues capital of the world.
The Chicago Blues Festival is the largest free blues fest in the world, holding over 60 performances on five separate stages. This year is its 27th year running, and it will celebrate the late Howlin’ Wolf (yesterday would have been his 100th birthday). The fest will feature a number of musicians who played alongside Wolf in the past, such as Sam Lay, Matt Murphy and James Cotton. And Sunday at 1:30pm, the ZonePerfect stage will host a discourse on Wolf’s life, “Discussing Wolf: 100 Years of Remembrances.”
Along with countless renditions of “Sweet Home Chicago,” we’re looking forward to Friday night’s performance by Zora Young; her set will be a tribute to Wolf (who is actually her distant cousin) and Sunnyland Slim. Other notable acts include Chicago classics like Jimmy Dawkins, East of Edens Soul Express, and Chicago Blues: A LIVING HISTORY, a tribute act that brings together two generations of traditional Chicago blues musicians. Plus, all three days at noon the ZonePerfect stage will hold delta blues harmonica lessons with Joe Filisko, a harmonica master who also teaches every Monday at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Check out Explore Chicago for the full schedule.
Chicago Blues Festival is Friday, June 11 to Sunday, June 13 in Grant Park, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. each day, Free, All Ages