Overview
- The 12-track EP Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience launched Friday, Aug. 7 through Decca Records and began a short promotional tour with a kickoff performance in Houston.
- Freeman is credited as the record’s producer and narrator but does not perform musically on the release.
- The collection brings together established blues artists and ensembles, including Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Shemekia Copeland, Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell and the Chineke! Orchestra.
- Its first single, a Taj Mahal cover of Son House’s “Death Letter Blues,” was released on Juneteenth and Freeman said the timing reflects the music’s origins in Black American history.
- Producers say the album compresses a live two-hour show into a 45-minute, 12-track narrative that is eligible for the 2027 Grammys and is meant to broaden interest in the blues while building on Freeman’s Ground Zero club work in Mississippi.