NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� It happened out of necessity. was in Clarksdale, Mississippi, 25 years ago when some out-of-towners asked where they could hear blues music. Musicians were abundant; venues were not.
鈥淭here was no place where we could guarantee that you could go in and hear it,鈥� he told The Associated Press. 鈥淪o, we had to establish that.鈥�
Freeman and his business partners, then-Mayor Bill Luckett and Howard Stovall, were inspired to open a juke joint in Clarksdale called Ground Zero Blues Club. Then, much more recently, they created 鈥淢organ Freeman鈥檚 Symphonic Blues Experience,鈥� a touring ensemble of blues musicians who marry the beloved Southern genre with classical, symphonic compositions. On Friday, they’ll release an album under the same name.
The legendary actor is a producer and narrator on the release, not a performer. That’s left up to the professionals: all-star acts like Taj Mahal, Keb鈥� Mo鈥�, Shemekia Copeland, Tiernii Jackson, the Chineke! Orchestra out of London, and many more.
鈥淚 like the blues. I like music. I cannot claim to be an aficionado. That鈥檚 not my place,鈥� says Freeman. 鈥淚鈥檓 an enthusiast, but that鈥檚 a necessity.鈥�
From live performances to a full-length record
Before the album, the 鈥淢organ Freeman鈥檚 Symphonic Blues Experience鈥� traveling performances were born out of a simple idea: How could Freeman and his team bring this music to the world?
鈥淏lues is an important American story birthed in the Mississippi Delta out of hardship but obviously resonates with people and cultures on a global basis, both for how good it sounds, but also the message underneath it,鈥� said Eric Meier, Freeman’s partner and co-producer on the project who joined the actor’s blues club in 2018. 鈥淲e conceived of this concept to really take this music to new geographies and new audiences.鈥�
Turning the live performance meant cutting down a nearly two-hour show to around 45 minutes across 12 tracks, while still honoring the format. It includes video vignettes as well as 鈥渃inematic narration,鈥� courtesy of Freeman, recorded
鈥淲e offer a musical story, a 100-year arc from the 1930s to modern day, so the evolution of blues music,鈥� says Meier.
Freeman’s idiosyncratic voice opens the record, describing the genre with a real poetry, delivered atop a haunting rendition of Blind Willie Johnson’s 1927 gospel blues classic, 鈥淒ark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground.鈥�
鈥淭his is music that gave voice to a people, to their pain, their hope and their resilience,鈥� Freeman recites. 鈥淢usic isn’t just melody, you know. It’s memory, it’s history wrapped in ribbon, the echoes of lives lived and lost, heartache and hope all tangled together. And nowhere is that truer than in the blues.鈥�
Freeman wants to keep the blues alive
The last song on 鈥淢organ Freeman鈥檚 Symphonic Blues Experience鈥� sees singer-songwriter great-nephew Keith Johnson covering Raphael Saadiq and from the Oscar-winning It brings the 100-year story of blues to its coda, but it also serves as a reminder of the film’s ability to bring the genre into mainstream conversation.
That’s something Freeman hopes to accomplish, too. He wants to make sure blues is not forgotten.
鈥淚t is a responsibility that we鈥檝e taken on. And the hope is that it, like everything else that catches on, takes root, as it were. You know, the blues is actually America鈥檚 music,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 incumbent upon us to water it, nurture it, keep it alive, keep it going.鈥�
Meier adds that their album project predates 鈥淪inners鈥� 鈥� he says told him the film’s juke joint was partially inspired by Ground Zero Blues Club; the film is set in Clarksdale after all 鈥� but it has been 鈥渁 wonderful coincidence鈥� that both works have the power to bring the blues to the masses.
And maybe one day, 鈥淢organ Freeman鈥檚 Symphonic Blues Experience鈥� will receive the same kind of critical praise given to 鈥淪inners.鈥� The album is eligible for
鈥淲e will be submitting in multiple categories,鈥� says Meier. 鈥淵ou got room on your trophy shelf, Morgan?鈥�
鈥淵eah, yeah. I want it,鈥� Freeman smiles.
Adding Grammy Award-winner to his Academy Award-winner title? 鈥淪ounds pretty good to me.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
