On 7 June 2019, the Chicago Blues Festival took over Millennium Park, in the heart of Chicago, the historic cradle of electric blues. Organised by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), the event is the largest free blues festival in the world, gathering legendary artists and new voices of the genre every year. This live concert film documents a day of programming on the park’s main stage, between biting guitars, Hammond organs, tight rhythm sections and impassioned vocals, in the direct lineage of the Chicago pioneers. The multi-artist format offers a vivid panorama of contemporary blues, from traditional shuffle to more modern readings. This live capture is a valuable testament to the vitality of the American blues scene in the late 2010s, in an iconic urban setting. For any lover of live blues, this full show from the 2019 Chicago Blues Festival is an ideal immersion into a still-thriving musical tradition, celebrated where it first went electric.
Personnel & credits
- Charlie Musselwhite — harmonica, vocals
- Billy Boy Arnold — harmonica, vocals (guest)
- Jimmy Johnson — guitar, vocals (Jimmy Johnson Blues Band)
- Bobby Rush — vocals, harmonica
