I arrived at Grant Park shortly after the start of the festival. It was in the mid 90's on the lake front. As I walked down Jackson Blvd, I could hear the solo sounds of some fantastic old school blues piano from the Front Porch Stage.
Nearly twenty one years earlier, I was in the same sport to hear John Lee Hooker perform solo. This time, it was pianist Aaron Moore. Aaron Moore is one of the last of the great Blues piano players. I was really glad to have the opportunity to see him perform. It was a feeling that I would have several times during the next few days.
After the conclusion of Aaron Moore's set, I strolled down to the Crossroads Stage and caught a portion of a fine set being laid down by Osee Anderson and Da Blooze Folks.
I hung out there for a while before heading down to the Juke Joint Stage to catch John Primer and Matthew Skoller. This was a really enjoyable set featuring some excellent guitar work by John Primer and some fantastic harp playing by Matthew Skoller.
After this I walked back to the Crossroads Stage to catch the Hoochie Coochie Boys. This was an All Star lineup featuring several of the sidemen from the last Muddy Waters Band including: Mojo Buford, John Primer, Rick Kreher, Ray "Killer" Allison, Calvin Jones and Barrelhouse Chuck. This was a very high energey set considering that several of the artists were well into their 70's.
During the last several numbers, these guys were joined by Larry Williams aka Muddy Waters, Jr. Larry Williams is one of the sons of Muddy Waters. He's a good singer and showman.
After this set finshed up, I headed west and caught the last portion of the Phil Guy set.
By this time, I was dead tired and needed some rest before it all started the next day.
There was a lot more that could be said about the performances of the day, but it's time to go...
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