Jun 12

Jun 12 Chicago Bluesfest (Day 4)

Chicago, Chicago Tourism, Festivals, Jazz, Musicians, Performance, Things to Do in Chicago

My strategy for Day 4 of the 2022 Chicago Blues Festival changed a bit, along with my energy level. Frankly, I was tired. I estimate that I spent eight to nine hours per day in Millenium Park on my feet with a camera-laden backpack weighing me down. Taking the photographs isn’t the whole story. I found myself editing the images until 1:00 AM each morning, only to then find myself back in front of the computer at 7:30 AM for an additional two or three hours. I just don’t have the same stamina as the much younger Mark Sheldon, who is an animal when it comes to putting in the hours.

So, I opted for a late start and an early exit. Because the first three daily tributes had been so good, I decided to begin my day in the Pritzker Pavilion with the tribute to Mary Lane and, more generally, to the Women of the Blues, which included Anne Harris, Donna Herula, Shirley Johnson, Sharon Lewis, Peaches Staten, Demetria Taylor, Nora Jean Wallace, and Sheryl Youngblood.

I won’t go into all the detail because recounting of all the great vocal feats would be largely repetitive. I will, however, note the opening performance, which was an odd duck compared to what followed. Sometimes an odd duck is a good thing, a very good thing, as was the case today when Anne Harris, Donna Herula, and Peaches Staten hit the stage, offering some Country Blues on steroids. Herula always shows up with interesting guitars, which I associate with the National name, although there are other makers of resonator guitars. For some southern backcountry flavor, add Staten, with her washboard. Closing out this trio was Harris, who figuratively had springs attached to her stylish sneakers. She is clearly the Gumby of the violin world, contorting her lithe frame into unimageable forms. You just don’t see Itzhak Perlman hopping around on stage like Harris. The trio played three numbers. The programmers should book them for a full set next year.

After the Mary Lane tribute I closed out the 2022 festival with Ivy Ford, who looks like one of those miniature hula dancers riding atop car dashboards, although they aren’t holding guitars painted like one of Bob Dylan’s polka-dot shirts from 1965. Nor do they have golden barrettes in their hair. Ford certainly knows how to command a stage, playing some rockin blues with a touch of shred, particularly when she played the guitar behind her back.

I reached a number of conclusions after over the course of the weekend. First, as a general rule, the women dress far better than the men. One or two went with black, but not the black, baggy tee shirts worn by several of the men. Host Lynne Jordan was wrapped in the same rainbow that Adam and Eve saw following a refreshing spring shower until the Satan slithered their way. Oh, those colors. Then there was Sharon Lewis attired in her black and yellow butterfly wings. A photographer’s delight.

Second, I now understood the longevity of the Rolling Stones: Separate the vocalist (MIck Jagger) from the guitarist (Keith Richards). Too many of the men spent their sets with their mouths pressed against a mic fixed to a stationary stand. The women relied on handheld mics, moving freely about the stage as they danced to the music, as Sly Stone once exhorted. I could see the expressions on their unobstructed faces.

Third, the women are a much more cohesive group. Whether a singer was entering or exiting the stage, she was greeted with hugs and kisses from her compatriots. The menfolk are not nearly as emotive.

Fourth, the downsizing of the local newspapers is problematic. As far as I could tell, neither the Tribune, nor the Sun Times covered the festival, which is bad for the festival and the arts generally.

For me, the festival was both an energy-packed and and energy-draining weekend. Overall, I was feeling pretty great as I headed home.

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