Morgan Freeman Is Releasing A Blues Album

Morgan Freeman has spent decades acting in or narrating some very memorable stories. Now he’s turning his attention to one of America’s oldest. The Oscar-winnings thespian and Mississippi native will release Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience on Aug. 7 via Decca Records, a 12-track collection tracing a century of blues history through new recordings that pair Delta traditions with full orchestral arrangements.

The 89-year-old Freeman serves as narrator and producer on the project, which features contributions from Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Shemekia Copeland and producer Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell, alongside members of the Chineke! Orchestra, Europe’s pioneering majority-Black and ethnically diverse ensemble.

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“Rooted in stories carried from West Africa to the American South, the blues became a testament to the unbroken human spirit, the sound of America’s past and present and the heartbeat of a culture that refused to be forgotten,” Freeman says. “I heard the blues for the first time on my grandmother’s porch in the Mississippi Delta, and it has never left me.”

Released in conjunction with Juneteenth, the album’s first preview is a reimagining of Son House’s “Death Letter Blues” featuring Taj Mahal. Recorded between Memphis’ storied Royal Studios and London’s Abbey Road Studios, the track pairs Mahal’s weathered vocals with orchestral arrangements conducted by Martin Gellner.

The collection spans nearly 100 years of music, beginning with Blind Willie Johnson’s 1927 “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” and concluding with “I Lied to You” from the Sinners soundtrack. Along the way are interpretations of classics such as “Crossroads,” “Dust My Broom,” “Traveling Riverside Blues” and B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone,” performed by a cast that includes Super Chikan, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Lady Adrena and Anthony “Big A” Sherrod.

Many of the musicians are regulars at Ground Zero Blues Club, the Clarksdale, Ms., venue Freeman opened 25 years ago to help preserve and celebrate the music of his native Mississippi Delta. “While the Delta’s fortunes may change, its soul is eternal,” Freeman says.

To bring that soul to the stage, Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience will be accompanied by a handful of live dates beginning Aug. 7 with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, followed by performances in Memphis on Sept. 26 and Gulfport, Miss., on Oct. 17.

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