It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues

Traveling from the Mississippi delta, to the southside of Chicago and
beyond, It Ain’t Nothing’ But the Blues is a hand-clapping, cat-calling crash course in the history of this authentically American musical tradition. The song-studded show takes its audience on a journey through traditional chants and gospel, along a highway of juke-joint tunes, Delta and Chicago Blues, with side trips through hillbilly, country, and honky-tonk. This performance is jam-packed with over three dozen numbers, including “Let the Good Times Roll,” “The Thrill is Gone,” “Fever,” “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,” W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues,” and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You.” Every song is infused with the incendiary mixture of agony, humor, joy and pain that makes the blues so universally appealing.