“Symphonic blues” probably isn’t the first sound that comes to mind at the mention of the Ground Zero Blues Club, a self-described “raw, down-home” Clarksdale, Mississippi, venue co-founded by lifelong blues music lover and actor Morgan Freeman in 2001 that features live music from local and national artists four nights a week. In considering how they might be able to share some of the magic so often heard at the club with the rest of the world, Freeman and his colleagues decided to take a band of regular performers from Ground Zero on a North American tour, also adding a whole other element that could help expose a bit different of a group of listeners to the blues, something Freeman describes as “blending the grit of the Delta Blues with the majesty of a symphony orchestra”.
This isn’t of course the first time blues has been paired with an orchestra: blues harmonica and piano player Corky Siegel (Siegel-Schwall Band) has been doing it since 1966, often with a focus on Chicago blues, including quite successfully in recent years in a smaller chamber format. Eric Clapton’s been backed by orchestras at such venues as the Royal Albert Hall (24 Nights) and Lincoln Center (Play the Blues: Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center) over the decades, pairing with Wynton Marsalis on the latter, whose Blues Symphony has been recorded now by several orchestras. In August 2023, Joe Bonamassa recorded his Live at the Hollywood Bowl with Orchestra CD/DVD, and, next month, fellow blues-rocker Warren Haynes will be releasing a live album he recorded with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra back in 2019. But we’re hard-pressed to think of anyone who’s done it so focused on the Delta blues and on the type of scale Freeman has with his Symphonic Blues Experience tour.
We missed the show when Freeman & co. came through our town earlier this year, but fortunately we haven’t missed out entirely on hearing this unique take on the blues, thanks to a just-released accompanying recording of the project from Decca Records. With the orchestral music recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London in partnership with the majority Black and ethnically diverse ensemble Chineke! Orchestra and the Delta blues portion recorded by the legendary Boo Mitchell at his Royal Studios in Memphis, the 12-song Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience spans nearly a full century of blues music, from a 1927 gospel blues classic from Blind Willie Johnson to a tune from the 2025 hit movie Sinners.
The set kicks off with a spoken introduction to the blues from Freeman that’s combined with moaning vocals from Keith Johnson (a great nephew of Muddy Waters) and guitar from Alvin Youngblood Hart on the haunting “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” (Blind Willie Johnson) before moving into such other familiar numbers as Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads”–this peppy, strings-drenched version sung by Super Ckikan–and vibrant “Dust My Broom” from Lady Adrena, both featuring Hart on guitar and Johnson on harmonica, and soulful “The Thrill is Gone” with Hart on both vocals and guitar.
We previously told you about a few of the other numbers from the collection, performed by Taj Mahal (a chugging version of Son House’s “Death Letter Blues”, with Mahal slowing the tempo to a crawl partway through to great effect before it builds back up) and Keb’ Mo’ (Albert King’s “Cadillac Assembly Line”). But those aren’t the only bigger name blues artists to contribute to the project, with Shemekia Copeland also checking in with a blistering take on “Traveling Riverside Blues” (Robert Johnson).
Tiernii Jackson is joined by the Stax Music Academy Choir for a beautiful, spirited ” I’ll Take You There” (The Staples Singers), with Anthony “Big A” Sherrod handling vocals and guitar on several numbers (J.J. Cale’s deep-grooved “Somebody’s Knockin'”, the swaying “Love Me or Leave Me”, and a gritty “Someday” that features some falsetto vocals and stinging guitar from Sherrod) to help round out the second half of the collection, and Keith Johnson closing out the album on vocals (again joined by Hart on guitar) with the eerie, reveling “I Lied to You” from Sinners.
Mark Yacovone does a particularly terrific job on keys, alongside others such as Jimmy Kinard (bass) and Steve Potts (drums), through most of the album, with the orchestra also adding a nice touch but leaving plenty of space for some Delta blues guitar and harmonica to remind the listener of the project’s Ground Zero roots. Along with that, all proceeds from the recording will go to Freeman’s Ground Zero Arts Foundation, dedicated to preserving the blues in Mississippi and aiding local artists through economic support, healthcare services and more.
With the addition of the symphony, this album may at times sound a little prettier than much of the blues you hear, including at the Ground Zero Blues Club itself, but this marvelous, intriguing recording certainly brings some interesting diversity and originality to any blues fan’s collection.