I have anxiously waited for today since the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events first announced the lineup for the 2026 Chicago Blues Festival. Living legend Taj Mahal would be the festival’s closing act. Regrettably, many of the great Blues artists that I grew up listening to are no longer alive. I, however, remember buying Taj’s first album as a high school student back in the early Seventies.

I am no longer sure who came first for me. Was it Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Mayall, or Taj Mahal? No doubt, Taj served as a gateway to many other Blues musicians. Take his eponymously-named first album, for example, which included compositions penned by Sonny Boy Williamson II, Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, Elmore James, and Sleepy John Estes.

When I arrived at Millennium Park today, I still had seven hours to wait until Taj and his Phantom Blues Band would take the Pritzker Pavilion’s stage. To “bide” my time, I first headed over to the Wrigley Square Plaza, where Gerry Hundt, a one-man blues band, was comfortably ensconced on the stage making music. Hundt had been wandering the grounds since Friday, playing his guitar and blowing harp while keeping the beat with a homemade kick drum affixed to his back. After two days of demonstrating his passion, I was glad Hundt had the opportunity to hold forth on a stage. I was told that the scheduled performer had canceled at the last minute, creating an opening that Hundt was all too glad to deservedly fill.

**Got a Seat on the Stage After Someone Canceled**

After listening to Hundt perform a couple of numbers, I headed to the Mississippi Crossroads stage where Fred T and the Band already performing. T is a singer and guitarist, who undoubtedly was strongly influenced by B.B. King. He also demonstrates a love of classic soul music. While listening, I took note of the keyboardist using electronics to mimic the sounds of a Hammond B6 organ. I certainly wasn’t going to take issue.

The festival program reported that Fred T and company are regulars on the Chitlin’ Circuit. Plenty of people must remember some good times listening to T and his band on a Saturday night in some juke joint just a couple of miles down a winding dirt road.

**A Round of Applause for Fred T and the Band**

**Laying Down the Bass Lines for Fred T**

I also wanted to catch the Dan Souvigny Band, which was performing at the Rosa’s Lounge stage, so I did not stay for T’s entire set. Souvigny and his band were offering up slow Blues, as well as some funk. Souvigny plays an electric piano, which always takes me back to the early Seventies—not a bad place to revisit. As for Carlos Johnson, he is a versatile guitarist and singer, able to inhabit a variety of styles. He brought back memories of Sly Stone when he sang Family Affair. For a guy playing a visibly beaten-up guitar and wearing a weather-worn, grizzled face, Johnson sure had a smooth, soulful voice.

But at the end of the day, I particularly enjoyed Tracy Baker’s saxophone. More Blues bands should incorporate the sound of horns. The sax at times can supplement the bass, while at others, it can offer up lyrical solos. That was the case today.

**Carlos Johnson Delivering the Goods While Playing with Dan Souvigny's Band**

**Bringing His Big Bad Tenor Saxophone to the Game (with the Don Souvigny Band)**

Before heading to the Pritzker Pavilion for the day’s headliners, I returned to the Mississippi Crossroads stage, where Mzz Reese & her Pieces were performing. Like many of this weekend’s other singers, Mzz Reese works in a variety of styles, including sultry Blues, soulful ballads, and call and response using her band as the foil. Dressed in matching orange tee-shirts, Mzz Reese and company had the large crowd seated in front of the stage firmly in their corner.

I must admit, I only listened to one song by Mzz Reese—I had seen her several times before—because the tribute to the women in the Blues was about to begin. This year, the singers who were in the lineup paid homage to Mama Yancey and Big Mama Thornton. Among those performing were Melody Angel, Delta Farr, Katherine Davis, Lee Kanehira, Mary Lane, and Nora Jean Wallace. Lynne Jordan served as the emcee, as well as lending her band, The Shivers, to the effort.

Tributes like this one inherently pose one problem. Any of the performers could have held forth for an entire 90-minute set, providing them the opportunity to build to a climactic conclusion. Unfortunately, each only performed one or two songs, so just as each was hitting her groove, it was time for the next singer’s turn at the mic.

Nora Jean Wallace kicked off the set with Ma Rainey’s classic, C. C. Rider. Wallace has a deep voice, but she interjected some falsettos and other vocalize. As was true throughout the set, guitarist Rick Hall and pianist Lee Kanehira underscored the vocals with musical flourishes at just the right moments.

Katherine Davis followed Nora Jean Wallace, choosing to sing How Long Blues. Wallace asked an age-old question: “How long until he stops mistreating me?” To my ears, Wallace and Davis have very similar styles and voices. Kanehira underscored Davis’s efforts with some good old fashioned stride piano.

Dietra Farr took center stage next, singing Mama Yancey’s Make Me a Pallet Down on Your Floor. Rather than the slower Blues sung by her two predecessors, Farr chose a swinging number, giving the horn section the opportunity to shine.

Once Farr finished up, Davis returned to the stage, or as the Lyne Jordan said when she introduced Davis, “It’s like you’re in church, Katherine, up and down, up and down.” I don’t know the name of the song that Davis sang, but it recalled a busy schedule. A different man paid her a visit each day of the week.

I’ve got a Tuesday man, He gives me everything I need. My Wednesday man, Oh he is all so nice. My Thursday man is just good from head to toe.

Lynn Jordan then took a turn at the mike. While cooling herself with an orange fan, Jordan sang Trouble in Mind, belting out the words. She also gave guitarist Rick Hall the opportunity to shine.

As Jordan finished up, Melody Angel plugged in her Fender Telecaster. Everyone knew what was coming next. When Lynn Jordan introduced Angel, she tellingly observed, “She jumps up in the air and stuff when she plays the guitar.”

Angel chose to open with Big Mama Thornton’s Packing Up My Troubles. While Angel has a deep and lustful voice, she is best known as a guitar player, with Jimi Hendrix being one of her inspirations. For her second number, she chose another Thornton classic, Chauffeur Blues, demanding that her man drive her around. Midway through, Angel took a somewhat extended guitar solo, as well as jumping up in the air twice.

Following Angel’s two-song stint, Nora Jean Wallace returned to center stage, repeatedly singing that she smelled a rat. Next up, Mary Lane, who performed the classic My Little Red Rooster. Although Lane is 90 years old, based on her strong vocal stylings, I have no doubt that she could still give that rooster a run for his money.

Eventually, all good things must come to an end. All the ladies jointed together, for a boisterous rendition of You Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog, with howls punctuating the vocals. Jordan then introduced the band before closing out what was a terrific set.

**Katherine Davis Singing About Her Tuesday Man**

**Nora Jean Wallace Smoothing Things Out**

**Deitra Farr, Dressed in Colorful Turquoise As She Sings and Smiles**

**Lynne Jordan Reaching for the Perfect Note**

**Lee Kanehira Adding Some Stride Piano**

**Ninety-Year-Old Mary Lane Looking for Her Little Red Rooster**

**Melody Angel Bringing Some Electricity to the Women of the Blues**

Following a short intermission, Sue Foley and Pinky, her beloved Fender Telecaster, took the stage. With her were a drummer, bass player, and guitarist Reo Casey. Foley opened with an instrumental showcasing her prowess on the guitar. She then broke into what I assumed would be her take on Dust My Broom, but when it came time for the vocals, the lyrics were not from that classic tune. They identified Foley as a “hurricane girl,” which is an apt characterization.

She then opted for a self-penned slow Blues, Ice Queen, first telling the audience she knew they were thinking it was autobiographical. Foley said the song was about a lot of things, but it was inspired by Albert Collins, the Iceman of the Fender Telecaster. At one point, Foley sang, “They say I am cold and detached,” but the notes flying off her guitar were anything but cold or detached. Foley’s playing demonstrated true lyricism. “Before I compromise my love again, it will be a cold day in Hell.”

Foley then performed an obscure Blues number, originally entitled Southern Women, but she changed the gender reference to the masculine. While was playing the Blues, at times, Foley’s effort could have been mistaken for a Sixties surf instrumental.

Midway through her set, Foley said it was time to boogie. She then launched into Dallas Man, during which she and Casey went for pyrotechnics, trading guitar licks back and forth.

Foley wasn’t done with us yet, choosing to launch into Stevie Ray Vaughan’s The House is a Rockin’, Don’t Bother Knocking. The stage was certainly a rocking. She followed that with a Howlin’ Wolf number entitled, Howlin’ for My Baby. While Foley can’t match Wolf’s vocals, she overcame any deficiency with her fancy fretwork.

She concluded the set with a song seemingly entitled, I’ve Been Working All Night. In addition to being a rocker, the song gave Foley and Casey the opportunity to play their guitars as they held them behind their heads. Every performer should end with strong visuals even though behind-the-head guitar playing is a bit kitschy. Going back to the future with Michael J. Fox.

**Sue Foley Focused On What She Is Playing**

I owe Chris Cain an apology. This was Day 3, and Cain took the stage after I had already heard six hours of music. I was flagging, so I listened to a couple numbers, briefly met up with two friends on the Great Lawn, and then grabbed a hot dog—I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

At this point, the only music I wanted to hear was Taj Mahal. So, I was a tough audience through no fault of Cain. I liked Cain’s voice, which exhibited a Texas drawl despite the fact that Cain originates from San Jose, California. His guitar playing certainly was first rate, but overall I found Cain’s set monotonous. I was unable to differentiate one song from another. But my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt given my mood.

**Two Grumps Hanging on the Great Long Listening to the Blues and Stuffing Their Faces With Popcorn**

Finally, the moment had arrived. Taj slowly made his way onto the stage, traveling the last several feet with a shuffle skip as the band began to play a little ditty to encourage him to keep moving. The famed singer and multi-instrumentalist was showing his years as he lumbered along, but when he sat down on a black swivel chair, he shouted “Let’s Go! Are you ready? Are you really ready?” with a voice that was gravely, but energized. He opened with a sax-infused instrumental jam entitled 7/11, which is a Blues version of Mambo Number 5, that simply rocked. After telling us a bit of news—”The audience is always a part of the performance. There is no separation between we and you”—Taj and his band launched into Strut, from Taj’s 1993 Dancing the Blues album. It was similar to the opening jam, with an upbeat tempo, although space opened up for a solo from the guy playing the Hammond organ. Taj even interjected some scat singing into the number.

He then returned to 1968, playing E Z Rider, one of the selections from his first Columbia album. How many times had I and everyone else in the audience heard that song. Despite being surrounded by string instruments, Taj pulled out a Blues harp. He was down on the killing floor.

Few expect Taj to be releasing new singles at age 84, but last month, he issued one entitled Wild About My Loving, which will doubtedly be heard by unsuspecting vacationers who venture down to the Caribbean this winter. The man still has his mojo, telling his “baby to step over here because I am wild about my loving.” As he sang, his voice was engulfed by a calypso, trumpet-laden beat.

Putting down his guitar, he let his band lay the foundation, as he launched into the classic Statesboro Blues. Using his best Wolfman Jack impersonation, he told his guitarist to “Smoke that guitar.” It was then time for the piano player to “tickle those ivories.”

The band then launched into You Put the Whammy on Me off his new album, Time. The song was inspired by Evil Eye Fleagle from the Li’l Abner comic strip illustrated by Al Capp. Taj certainly was putting the whammy on the thousands filling the Pritzker Pavilion’s seats and spread out on the lawn. After he had cast his magic spell, Taj launched into Queen Bee from his 1997 Señor Blues album.

Now we were in for a real treat. Taj went back to his second album, the Natch’l Blues, pulling out the first tune he ever composed, Movin’ Up to the Country to Paint My Mailbox Blue,” which is a slow, lumbering Blues that sways back and forth, as if Taj was singing while lying in a hammock. Maybe Taj imbibed a bit before heading up that steep country dirt road. He pulled his harp back out for this one.

It was now time for Taj to showcase his vocal skills, with Further Down the Road from his 1969 release, Giant Step. Seconds before he launched into this classic, Taj must have swallowed some honey, but I didn’t see a jar come out. How sweet it is, as Jackie Gleason used to exclaim.

Taj then revealed that Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd had called him, asking whether they could use She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride for the Blues Brothers movie. Taj had no problem honoring the request. The song can be heard as Joliet Jake and his brother, Elwood, leave Joliet Prison as the movie opens.

Taj then returned to the Natch’l Blues album, for Corinna, which made one woman in the audience very happy. The electric piano served as a nice complement to Taj’s voice.

Taj then ordered the lighting crew to bring the house lights up. Then closing his set with Way Back Home from 2006 album, Every Woman’s Blues. I was a bit surprised that he closed with that number, which is anything but a fast-paced barn burner. It is more mournful and introspective.

But after Taj’s hour plus set, I had no complaints. Well maybe one minor one. Throughout the set, a banjo stood in a stand nearby Taj, but he never picked it up.

At 84, Henry St. Claire Fredericks, Jr. had left nothing on the field.

And so the 2026 Chicago Blues Festival came to a close. Another spectacular year.