Dominican University’s Blues and the Spirit

June 9-10, 2010

2^nd Annual Symposium on Chicago’s Blues & Gospel Music

Dominican University, located in River Forest, IL will host a blues & gospel symposium on June 9 and 10 that will include a special commemoration of the centennial of Howlin’ Wolf’s birth and the 40^th anniversary of Living Blues Magazine. Socially conscious rapper Chuck D (of Public Enemy) will give the keynote speech on “Blues, Rap and Race.”  Dr. Karen M. Wilson will speak on “The Sacred and Secular”.  Living Blues Magazine’s original founders will host a panel. The two day event will also include an Elders Council with Hubert Sumlin and other contemporaries of Howlin’ Wolf, a reception and pro jam with all generations of Chicago blues artists, plus a Blues and the Spirit Awards ceremony. The final night will include a bus trip to Chicago’s Millenium Park for an outdoor concert, Music Without Borders, with West African and blues musicians, plus an after-party at Rosa’s Lounge on Chicago’s West Side. (See below for details) For more info, or to register, visit: www.dom.edu/blues

June 9^th Wednesday Evening Program: Commemoration of the Centennial of Howlin’ Wolf’s Birth

On the opening evening, the Blues and the Spirit Symposium will host an “Elders Council” bringing together the surviving original sidemen who played with Howlin’ Wolf at Chess Records and around the Chicago area in the 1950s and early ‘60s.  Wolf’s daughters, Bettye Marks and Barbra Kelly, along with Marie Dixon, the widow of Chess songwriter and musician Willie Dixon, and the founder of the Blues Heaven Foundation, and several scholars will also participate in this discussion.  The theme for the Elders Council is “Setting the Record Straight on Cadillac Records.”  The 2008 film Cadillac Records purported to be the story of the heyday of Chess Records, but it contains several historical inaccuracies. This panel will bring together academics, family members, and most importantly, musicians, who played with Wolf during these years, to talk about the man and the times.  The University was able to invite a very distinctive group of musicians who began their careers with Wolf, including blues greats Hubert Sumlin (in the film, as in real life, guitarist Sumlin was the source of much dramatic tension between Wolf and Muddy Waters), Eddie Shaw, Jody Williams, Abb Locke, Bob Stroger, Eddie C Campbell and a few others to be confirmed.  Not only will they speak about those times, but they will also come together for the first time in many years to perform at the pro jam, following the panel discussion, playing alongside some of the best contemporary blues musicians in the Chicago area. This is a historic gathering of key musicians; since the blues are the roots of American popular music; these musicians are indeed the founding fathers.

June 10^th Day Program and Evening Events

Thursday highlights include the keynote address by Chuck D, who will speak on Blues, Rap and Race, Dr. Karen Wilson of University of California, Riverside, who will speak on the Sacred and the Secular in Black Music, as well as several panels and presentations by other scholars and writers. Following an afternoon reception,  the group will board a bus for an evening outing in Chicago. The Symposium is partnering with the City of Chicago for a Music Without Borders Concert in Millennium Park with Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba, a virtuoso of the ngoni (West African lute) and his band, Ngoni Ba,  who seamlessly blend contemporary jazz, blues, rock, bluegrass and pop influences with Afro-beat and the centuries old traditions of the griots of Mali. They will team with blues legends Otis Taylor, Eddie Shaw and Hubert Sumlin to celebrate the centennial of Howlin’ Wolf’s birth in collaboration with the Chicago Blues Festival. For more information about this artist, visit: http://www.myspace.com/bassekoukouyate

Then it’s back on the bus and over to Rosa’s Lounge for a late night of blues. Back by popular demand from the 2008 Symposium, the incomparable Sharon Lewis and Texas Fire, along with surprise guests, are going to tear the roof off this legendary Chicago blues club for the grand finale to the symposium!

Registration for the entire symposium (Wednesday evening panel, pro jam, and the Thursday all-day panels and program, receptions and the evening excursion to the concert at Millennium Park and Rosa’s Lounge) is $75.  Register online at www.dom.edu/blues or contact bluesandthespirit@dom.edu

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