Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman has released a blues album, “Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience,” which covers 100 years of the genre. The album features a touring ensemble of blues musicians who marry the beloved Southern genre with classical, symphonic compositions.
Background
Freeman, a blues enthusiast, was inspired to create the album after establishing a juke joint in Clarksdale, Mississippi, called Ground Zero Blues Club. The club was created to provide a venue for blues musicians to perform, and the album is an extension of that effort.
The album features all-star acts like Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Shemekia Copeland, and the Stax Music Academy Choir, among others. Freeman serves as a producer and narrator on the release, but does not perform.
The album tells a musical story, spanning from the 1930s to modern day, and features video vignettes and cinematic narration by Freeman. The goal of the album is to bring blues music to a wider audience and to keep the genre alive.
Original reporting: Alexandria, VA News – WTOP News — read the source article.
