As part of Chicago In Tune, the Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events will present new and reimagined programs in place of this year’s Chicago Blues Festival in Millennium Park. Four special evenings at Jay Pritzker Pavilion presented with the Millennium Park Foundation will honor music born and innovated in Chicago – including Chicago In Tune–Blues in September. DCASE and its partners will also celebrate blues music with community concerts in the Bronzeville and Austin neighborhoods, on historic Record Row and in music venues across the city.
Presented with Bronzeville Blues Collaborative: Chicago Blues Revival, Haven Studio, Muddy Waters MOJO Museum and Urban Juncture, the free Bronzeville Blues event will feature four stages of live music in the neighborhood that is the cradle of classic Chicago Blues. If Chicago is home of the blues, Bronzeville is the neighborhood where it grew up.
Through the classic era of Chicago blues, many of the most famous blues musicians lived and worked in Bronzeville including Muddy Waters, Otis Rush and Sonny Boy Williamson. It was home to important clubs such as the Checkerboard Lounge, Pepper’s Lounge and the 708 Club.
Bronzeville Blues will have outdoor stages on East 43rd Street/Muddy Waters Drive within easy walking distance of the Green Line station. Stages will be near The Forum, a historic dancehall and social center currently being renovated; the site of the original Checkerboard Lounge; and at Park 43, a community park and gathering space. Self-guided walking and biking tours of other nearby blues historic sites such as the Muddy Waters House and MOJO Museum, Theresa’s Lounge and Pepper’s Lounge will also be available.
The event is co-produced with the Bronzeville Blues Collaborative, a collective of non-profit organizations bringing all-ages blues programming to Bronzeville, Chicago’s blues neighborhood. See chicagobluesrevival.org for more information.
Performers include: John Primer & The Real Deal Blues Band, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, Melody Angel, Big James & The Chicago Playboys, Bob Stroger, Mississippi Gabe Carter, Harmonica Hinds, Joe Filisko & Eric Noden, Greasy Gravy Duo: Matt Hendricks & Rick Sherry, Gerry Hundt’s Legendary One-Man Band, Nick Alexander Blues Band, Milwaukee Slim, Jimmy Burns, and more.
And don’t miss the grand finale 5:30-6:30 The “MOJO” All Star Jam Session with Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, featuring John Primer, Melody Angel and more at The Checkerboard Stage!
Performance Locations:
- The Forum, 318-324 E. 43rd St.
- The Checkerboard, 423 E. 43rd St.
- Park 43, 540 E. 43rd St.
- PLUS – Muddy Waters MOJO Museum Front Porch Concert 4339 S. Lake Park Ave (On Muddy’s front porch!)
