The Florida Orchestra performs “Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience.”
In Friday’s (9/26) Tampa Bay Times (Florida), Gabrielle Calise writes, “Morgan Freeman came to town Thursday night to turn the Mahaffey Theater into a juke joint. His juke joint, to be specific: Clarksdale, Mississippi’s own Ground Zero Blues Club. During the local tour stop of ‘Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience,’ the Florida Orchestra teamed up with seven wickedly talented blues musicians from Ground Zero, which Freeman opened back in 2001. Though the lush, swelling harmonies from the orchestra provided a cinematic layer to the performance, it was hard at times to focus on anything but Freeman’s crew of Mississippi musicians as they wailed, shredded and grooved along…. The actor would reappear onstage throughout the night in a series of pre-taped videos, narrating the origin and evolution of the blues across five chapters. Archival footage rolled in the background, from workers toiling in cotton fields to late-night dance parties across time. Mississippi singer and harmonica player Keith Johnson unleashed a soulful slide guitar performance as Freeman’s voiceover explained the blues’ role as ‘heartache and hope tied together.’… As the band and orchestra moseyed through covers of B.B. King, Sam Cooke and Robert Johnson, the crowd swayed in their chairs, singing and clapping along.”
