{"id":79097,"date":"2025-07-20T22:35:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T22:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/79097\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T22:35:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T22:35:12","slug":"mavis-staples-john-primer-deliver-soulful-sets-at-chicago-blues-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/79097\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavis Staples, John Primer Deliver Soulful Sets At Chicago Blues Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rick<\/p>\n

Rick Holmstrom (left) and Mavis Staples (right) perform on stage during Chicago Blues Fest. Sunday, … More June 8 at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in Chicago, IL<\/p>\n

Photo by Ethan Chivari<\/p>\n

\u201cMy name is Ivan Singh – this is a dream come true,\u201d said the Argentinian guitarist, kicking off Blues Fest<\/a> last month in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Singh now calls Chicago home and stands as a perfect example of the way the world\u2019s largest free blues festival continues to embrace local talent, drawing a massive early crowd at just after noon on a hot summer Friday along the lakefront in the Windy City\u2019s Millennium Park ahead of a run of European dates.<\/p>\n

Singh, 26, was backed on the Rosa\u2019s Lounge<\/a> stage by a five piece group including a horn section that cooked, attacking his cigar box with a slide as he took on Muddy Waters\u2019 \u201cI\u2019m Your Hoochie Coochie Man\u201d at the top of his set.<\/p>\n

Ivan Singh performs on stage during a birthday celebration at Rosa’s Lounge. October 26, 2024 in … More Chicago, IL<\/p>\n

Photo by Ethan Chivari<\/p>\n

Chicago Blues Fest began way back in 1984, just about one year after Waters\u2019 death, taking place annually since.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s festival included an in depth look at the career of bluesman Bobby Rush, 91, a women in blues tribute to Denise LaSalle and a 75th anniversary celebration of Chess Records featuring Charles Berry Jr. and Charles Berry III, the son and grandson of the legendary rock and roller.<\/p>\n

Red-hot guitarist Christone \u201cKingfish\u201d Ingram, 26, who was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the birthplace of the blues, performed two sets, taking part in a centennial tribute to legendary guitarist B.B. King ahead of a festival closing performance by Chicago native, soul singer and Civil Rights activist Mavis Staples.<\/p>\n

Mavis Staples performs on stage during Chicago Blues Fest. Sunday, June 8, 2025 at Jay Pritzker … More Pavilion in Millennium Park in Chicago, IL<\/p>\n

Photo by Ethan Chivari<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned from Dr. King to just hold on and keep pushing – don\u2019t give up. If you fall down, pick yourself up, brush off and keep going. That\u2019s what we would do when we were marching,\u201d said Staples, 86, looking back upon her time alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in the 60s during a conversation in 2020<\/a>. \u201cEverything he did was for us. And I do mine for the people,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen people come to my concerts, I want them to leave there feeling better than they did when they arrived. So, I\u2019m following in his footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite rain earlier in the day, Staples\u2019 offered up a full set nevertheless, closing out Blues Fest following the unique pairing of incendiary jazz saxophonist Frank Catalano<\/a> and blues guitarist Lurrie Bell, with the duo nodding in the direction of B.B. King, who brought those worlds together magically on the 1983 album Blues \u2018N\u2019 Jazz.<\/p>\n

Saturday, Mississippi-born bluesman Jesse Robinson offered up a scorching set on the Visit Mississippi Crossroads stage, working up his take, appropriately enough, on \u201cSweet Home Chicago,\u201d early in his 75 minute performance.<\/p>\n

Frank Catalano performs on stage during a set with Lurrie Bell at Chicago Blues Fest. Sunday, June … More 8, 2025 at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in Chicago, IL<\/p>\n

Photo by Ethan Chivari<\/p>\n

Louisiana born singer Vickie Baker is now a Mississippi-based teacher and followed Robinson with over an hour of her own, taking a sultry approach to her set as she picked up harmonica for her latest single \u201cCheatin\u2019 Tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Saturday belonged to John Primer, 80, who, over more than six decades, has collaborated with artists like Willie Dixon and Junior Wells while working as guitarist and band leader for Waters.<\/p>\n

Following a Friday duo set alongside harmonica player Steve Bell, who recently portrayed Sonny Terry in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, Primer delivered a rollicking 75 minutes alongside his Real Deal Blues Band.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re workin\u2019 up the king, y\u2019all: B.B. King!\u201d announced Primer proudly, introducing the six piece group\u2019s take on \u201cBaby, Look at You.\u201d \u201cTom Holland on the guitar. Johnny Iguana on the keyboards y\u2019all!\u201d he continued, shouting out longtime cohort Holland and guest keyboard player Iguana, who, alongside Jeffrey \u201cJQ\u201d Qaiyum, scores the Chicago-centered FX on Hulu restaurant drama The Bear. \u201cYou\u2019re probably too young to know this song,\u201d joked Primer of the 1961 cut.<\/p>\n

John Primer and The Real Deal Blues Band perform on stage during Chicago Blues Fest. Saturday, June … More 7, 2025 at Millennium Park in Chicago, IL<\/p>\n

Photo by Ethan Chivari<\/p>\n

Iguana sparkled on \u201cHard Working Woman,\u201d a song Primer sent out to his mother, before offering up an unexpected cover on stage at Chicago Blues Fest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born and raised on country and western in Mississippi back in the day,\u201d said the singer with a smile, wrapping a fun take on Glen Campbell\u2019s \u201cRhinestone Cowboy.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the smell of barbecue wafted across Millennium Park, the all-star ensemble offered up 2019\u2019s \u201cRainy Night in Georgia,\u201d with Primer on a ripping slide guitar during \u201cI Can\u2019t Be Satisfied\u201d moments later.<\/p>\n

John Primer (left) and Tom Holland (right) perform on stage during Chicago Blues Fest. Saturday, … More June 7, 2025 at Millennium Park in Chicago, IL<\/p>\n

Photo by Ethan Chivari<\/p>\n

But just a year removed from a similar celebration of Chicago blues icon Buddy Guy<\/a>, Blues Fest 2025 belonged to south side Chicago native Mavis Staples.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know people feel down and mishearted but you have to continue to hold onto your faith. Hold onto hope. If we don\u2019t, what do we got?\u201d asked Staples during our 2020 chat, comments regarding COVID which nevertheless remain eerily prescient five years later. \u201cWhen I get ready to close the show, I let the people know that when you come out in the morning, if you\u2019re going to work or school or wherever, if you walk into someone, put a smile on your face. Just be kind! You\u2019ll feel so much better about yourself when you see that person smile back at you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world just may as well get ready to be bothered with me,\u201d said Mavis Staples. \u201cBecause I\u2019m gonna be right here in their faces.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rick Holmstrom (left) and Mavis Staples (right) perform on stage during Chicago Blues Fest. Sunday, … More June…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":79098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[54517,960,54515,54520,413,5386,1818,47412,54519,21075,54516,54518,1748],"class_list":{"0":"post-79097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-b-b-king","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-blues-fest","11":"tag-christone-kingfish-ingram","12":"tag-civil-rights","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-illinois","15":"tag-john-primer","16":"tag-johnny-iguana","17":"tag-martin-luther-king-jr","18":"tag-mavis-staples-songs","19":"tag-steve-bell","20":"tag-tom-holland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114887951861494868","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}