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Published: September 28th 2009
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Michigan Avenue Bridge
The bridge over the Chicago River is a popular spot for street musicians. Chicago is well known for the blues musicians that have made Chicago their home, if only for a little while. Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Etta James, Koko Taylor, and Buddy Guy are among the well known names associated with Chicago blues. Blues musicians still flock to Chicago, and it’s a great place to hear good music.
Buddy Guy still has a bar/blues club called
Legends located at 720 S. Wabash. When I went there, the exterior of the building was covered with scaffolding, making the place hard to find. I was there at lunch time, and it was pretty dead, but it comes alive at night, and is worth a trip.
A really great place for jazz and blues fans to visit is the
Jazz Record Mart at 27 E. Illinois. This place is a little hard to find, but boy is it worth it. JRM was started by Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records. If it’s ever been recorded, and it falls in the genre of jazz or blues, they probably have it here. There is a huge selection of music on vinyl, and there are recordings from obscure labels. Looking for Wee Bea? They have it.
Michigan Avenue Bridge
A little public sax... How about Zora Young, Alex Dixon, or Rick Estrin? Got it, got it, and got it. There is also a smattering of world music and Afro-pop.
And then there is the
House of Blues. The Chicago outpost of this chain is at 329 N. Dearborn, down by Marina City. (A bit of trivia: the first House of Blues opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts.) I went to the Sunday morning Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues, and it was a fun time. The food was pretty good, the mimosas flowed freely, and the show was a foot-stomping, hand-clapping, Hallelujah-shouting good time. My one big disappointment with the House of Blues is their lack of recorded music for sale in their store. You are not supposed to take pictures at the House of Blues, so lets keep these photos our little secret, OK?
Chicago natives will proudly tell you that the 1980 movie “The Blues Brothers” is the greatest movie ever made (and I think they’re right.) The movie was filmed here, and though many of the locations have gone the way of urban renewal, this is the city that gave the movie its soul.
Possibly useful information:
If
House of Blues
Gospel Brunch Choir you’re headed to Legends, but don’t fancy Southern food, there is a terrific Thai restaurant called Thai Spoon just a few block north at 601 S. Wabash.
I found Jazz Record Mart by accident one rainy day when I came out of Nordstrom’s/The Shops at Northbridge on the south side lower level.
The Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues is very popular, and it is suggested that you buy tickets in advance. You can buy them online, or save yourself the TicketMaster fee by buying them at the HOB box office. The Sunday I went, there were still tickets available up until performance time.
Chicago, August 2009
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