The first day of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Chicago Blues Festival was unseasonably hot and winds were gusting at more than 45 mph. That didn’t deter us from charging off at full throttle to enjoy the worlds largest free admission blues festival. We had planned our itinerary in advance. For those who hadn’t, a free program and schedule was available from the info booth. However the annual Reader’s Guide To The Chicago Blues Festival (a special insert to the Chicago Reader) is superior and mandatory.

The first stop was an acoustic set by John Primer and Matt Skoller on the Mississippi Juke Joint stage. It primarily showcases Mississippi born blues talent. Like last year, this themed stage was barely elevated, which made it difficult for anyone other than the tallest fan to see the artists. Except for a few steel benches and grandstands, there was no where to sit. In fact, seating is limited at most stages so bring a lawn chair but be warned you cannot bring it into the fenced-in pavilion area of the main stage.

A quintet of Muddy Waters alumni, The Hoochie Coochie Boys, performed some of the best traditional electric blues I’ve heard since a similar act appeared on the main stage in 2002. The Crossroads stage, where they performed this year, had orchards of trees on either side but standing in their shade didn’t provide the best view of the stage. John Primer’s guitar playing was astounding. He was right on top of his game as he led the band. Barrelhouse Chuck, who never played with Waters, was excellent on keys, though he wasn’t very animated. While Calvin “Fuzz” Jones buzzed away in the background strumming his bass and chewing a toothpick, Mojo Buford wailed on harp.

Surrounded by mature trees, the Front Porch Stage was the only stage whose entire viewing area was a lawn. There, Phil Guy’s international blues band didn’t appear to be his usual Chicago Machine band. There was an electric fiddle player from Russia and a keyboard player from Italy, who were laying down southern soul rhythms. Within a few songs, the other Guy appeared and after a mini sound check – Phil is a real stickler regarding the sound of his guitar – he lit into his funk-induced blues. Songs included Last Of The Blues Singers and a Muddy Waters tune, where Guy sounded like he was playing slide guitar even though he wasn’t using a bottleneck.

The Petrillo Music Shell (the main stage) is comprised of a huge band shell, pavilion seating, and lawn seating. Gates open at 4pm, but if you want a good general admission seat you’ll have to be in line prior to 4pm. The lawn seating is first come first served too, but you don’t have to line up to get a piece of turf. Dressed in a cream-colored suit, Willie Clayton pranced around the big main stage like a panther. Respectfully and professionally, his band members and backing singers were all dressed in white. There were bright moments every three to four songs, but overall I failed hear why he is super popular.

Chicago has been home to Mississippi born Jimmy Dawkins for more than 50 years. Dawkins was backed by a Chicago blues all-star band featuring Billy Flynn guitar, Rob Stone keys, as well as Eddie Shaw and Maurice John Vaughn on sax. The band performed a few numbers, and then Nora Jean Bruso took control for several more with her colossal voice and hefty presence. When 70-year-old Dawkins finally appeared, dressed in black with a baseball cap, he disappointingly only performed for approximately 20 minutes. After a resounding Going Down, he made his exit while Bruso closed the show.

Koko Taylor’s high-octane fueled Blues Machine only had time to perform one warm-up song before we were blessed with her royalty. Grammy-winning Taylor burned through Let The Good Times Roll, Ernestine, Jump For Joy, and Sweet Home Chicago though her flames were not as blazing as expected. Something just wasn’t right. It was disappointing that she did not perform any material from Old School, her vibrant new CD.

Day two’s theme “The New Generation is the Now Generation” had significant meaning. It was a day spent in honor of past and present members of the Sons Of Blues (SOBs). Carl Weathersby started the day with high voltage guitar contortions but faltered on his second number. A How Blue Can You Get medley of standards didn’t do much, but set highlights included Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On which segued into Love Lead Us Home and Leap Of Faith. Unlike his high-energy sets from the turn of the Century, his current sets alternate from mellow songs to hard edged blues songs. Sometimes this ebb and flow from seduction to intensity occurs within a single song.

Terry “T” Williams and Wesley Jefferson’s electric traditional blues was the type that’s far too rare these days. Too bad their set was riddled with standards and covers. Had they played new material within the first 20 minutes of their set, we would have stuck around. Instead we pushed off to the Louisiana Bayou Station and Social Club stage to catch Ken Saydak. This precise pianist has been a sideman to some of the best such as Otis Rush and Lonnie Brooks. Saydak performed solo and sounded very country & western. In between songs, he gave the history of American music.

J.W. Williams’ Chi-town Hustlers are a contemporary Chicago blues who’s who including Dave Mandez and Shun Kikuta on guitar and Stanley Banks on keys. The double guitar attack became tiring quickly – especially when the set was filled with standards like Goin Down Slow, which we had already heard too many times.

Carlos Johnson started with a song that displayed the talents of his band. It was really dragging on so we headed to what was quite possibly the highlight of the entire festival. This was originally booked as a Carey and Lurrie Bell gig, but Carey sadly past away five weeks prior to the festival. In a year filled with tragedy, Lurrie had already lost his wife.
Lurrie and his scintillating band gave the performance of their lives to prove you can kick and stomp the Bells but you can’t keep them down. Lurrie was looking and sounding the best he has in years. Though it was mainly covers, e.g., Everyday I Have The Blues, Lurrie varied them enough so our interest didn’t wander. Guest harpists included brother Steve Bell and Matt Skoller. Together they were all saying farewell to Carey via the music he had taught them. It was a very emotional set.

In 1977 Jim O’Neal of Living Blues put together a group of up-and-coming Chicago bluesmen to appear with Willie Dixon at the Berlin Jazz Festival. They billed themselves as “the New Generation of Chicago Blues.” The SOBs evolved directly out of the Berlin group. Practically every Chicago artist who performed throughout the day and who were former members of the SOBs, e.g., Carlos Johnson, regrouped on the main stage during Billy Branch’s Thirtieth anniversary of the SOBs. The horn section (Willie Henderson, Kenny Anderson, and Gene Barge) was most impressive as was J.W. Williams soaring falsetto during a rousing Love and Happiness.

June 9, the third day of the festival, was Fruteland Jackson’s Fifty-Fourth birthday. Jackson got totally absorbed in his acoustic blues. On Blues Over Baghdad, Jackson proficiently sang about the dark reality of war. He was accompanied by Fernando Jones (bass) and the phenomenal multi-instrumentalist Chris Whiteley. The great English pianist Bob Hall was a surprise guest. Baby boomers in the audience could relate to the physical ailments mentioned in Happy Birthday Blues. The comforting set concluded with the serving of a birthday cake.

Honking tenor saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, who was playing the festival for the first time, roamed throughout the entire Petrillo pavilion and later, played while lying on his back. Irma Thomas, the soul queen of New Orleans proved she was worthy of her recent Grammy® and Blues Music Awards. Her set was simply brilliant. She had no airs about her, she was just her here I am with my heart out on my sleeve self. Her songs lyrics, and the stories she told in between songs publicly revealed what this distinguished lady is all about. This is part of what makes the former waitress so appealing. There was an impressive improvisation section to her repertoire, where Thomas welcomed suggestions for songs as yelled out by members of the audience, e.g. Dr. Feelgood and Sing It. Given her woes, she still blissfully radiated happiness especially when she jubilantly led the elated crowd in waving their hankies while performing I Done Got Over It. Magic Slim was the best I’ve seen/heard him in years. This was also an undisputed and unanimous opinion of the media. Everyone seemed to be reveling in his unrefined music. It was the straight up, pure, and rough blues that Magic Slim is well known for.