Celebrate Mary Lane, Honored By The City of Chicago at Chicago Blues Fest with Host Lynne Jordan, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at 2:55 pm, millenniumpark.org. Then see Mary as Special Honoree with Win Noll and the Rockin Souls at Epiphany Art Center, epiphanychi.com.
Check out all of the great things happening for Women Of The Blues Recording Artist, Mary Lane. Chicago’s Very Own 85 year old Blues Legend will be honored by the JUS BLUES MUSIC Foundation when they present her with the 2021 Koko Taylor Queen of the Blues Award on Sunday, August 29th at 7 pm CDT & 8pm EDT. (virtual award show)
WATCH FRIDAY 3/20 5PM CDT: NBC Chicago Channel 5 News / streaming NEWS LIVE at https://www.nbcchicago.com/live/
a special feature celebrating Women’s History Month.
Imagine a World filled with Beauty. Here are some of the beautiful blues women who will be gracing the walls of the Delmark Records Gallery. Women of the Blues Foundation & Delmark Records will bring you an exhibit featuring a collection of photographers who have photographed blues women over the decades from legends to daughters of the blues masters to rising stars. Also featuring covers of Living Blues and Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine. We planned on an opening tomorrow night during Women’s History Month but instead we will do a virtual opening on Friday, March 27th. Julia A. Miller, Brenda Taylor Ricci, Demetria Taylor, Kate Moss, Joanna Connor, Anne Harris, Win Noll , Mary Lane, Zayika Hooker, Shemekia Copeland, HolleThee Maxwell , Rose Reed & more. Sherree Lee, Joan Sullivan, Linda S Mensch – photographers (l-r), Roman Sobus, Steven I. Wolf, Allen Winkler, courtesy Brenda Taylor Ricci, Lynn Orman Weiss, Roman Sobus, Jennifer Noble, Living Blues Magazine, Harvey Tillis, Peter Hurley, Howard Greenblatt
All photos property of Women of the Blues and photographers listed. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Use Without Permission – Contact, Lynn Orman Weiss for information and media, ormanmusic@gmail.com Women of the Blues Records, CHICAGO WOMEN OF THE BLUES, OWL Music & Media, Pam Oliver, LeeAnn Trotter
#WomensHistoryMonth #Blues #WomenOfTheBlues #WOB #DelmarkRecords #BluesLegends #BluesDivas
Wednesday, January 29th 3:15pm there will be an opening reception for The Blues Foundation / Blues Hall of Fame premiere in Memphis kicking off the IBC competition and on display Black History Month and March, Women’s History Month.
The Nomination 1st Round for the 62nd Grammy Awards® opened Wednesday 9/25 and will run through October 10th. Proudly Women of the Blues Records and OWL Music & Media offer FYC, 83 year old Mary Lane’s “Travelin’ Woman” for nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album. Only Mary’s 2nd Solo Album, comes 20 years after her debut. Produced by GRAMMY® winner Jim Tullio, the 10 song album of original music is backed by Very Special Guests: Billy Branch, Corky Siegel, Eddie Shaw, Gene “Daddy G” Barge, Dave Specter, Chris Hambone Cameron, Louie Zagoras and Colin Linden.
Check out the trailer from Jesseca Ynez Simmons‘ award winning I Can Only Be Mary Lane Documentary that tells the story of the making of “Travelin’ Woman” at https://vimeo.com/288639534. US Blues Societies are being given a Special Offer to book a FREE screening of the movie for their membership and guests. Call Lynn Orman Weiss to arrange your FREE SCREENING.
Give a listen to “Travelin’ Woman” and check out the movie trailer. Show some love when you agree this album is worthy of a Nomination. Thank you for listening and FYC.
Claudette Miller and Holle Thee Maxwell’s hand – Photo Lynn Orman Weiss
As every blues aficionado knows, Chicago is a mecca for the music when the 33rd Annual Chicago Blues Festival gets underway on Friday, June 10th. This free festival attracts attendees from all over the world who descend upon the city for live music in Grant Park as well as a full slate of blues-related events and activities.
One of those events will be a special Blues Festival kickoff show of “Women of the Blues—A Coast to Coast Collection” on Wednesday, June 8th from 7-10bpm. Lynn Orman Weiss, curator, organizer and driving force behind this unique exhibit feels that this scheduled showing ties in perfectly with so many international blues lovers who come into town for the festival. It was also fortuitous. In true Chicago fashion, Firecat usually books out early and often!
Robin Zimmerman wrote an extensive feature about Women of the Blues” in the Examiner. The story’s title is “Focus is on the dynamic women of the blues at Firecat Projects’ new exhibit.” Read the full story and look at the photo gallery:
Photo Nunu Picks
Alligator Recording Artist, Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor https://news.wttw.com/2021/06/28/traveling-exhibit-honors-koko-taylor-and-other-women-blues https://www.alligator.com/artists/Koko-Taylor/
Photo Blackham Image
Irish singer & guitarist Grainne Duffy Chicago, IL USA
March 14 - Martyrs'
March 15 - Rosa's Lounge
March 16 - Irish Heritage Center
Grainneduffy.com
Photo Amanda Gresham
Anne Harris, blues fiddle player, makes history https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ann+harris+wgn
Photo Amanda Gresham
On 2011 Cookie Taylor, daughter of Koko Taylor, presented her mother's crown to Shemekia Copeland, crowning her the new Queen of the Blues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz68obDv5TQ
Come see the city of Chicago pay tribute to Mary Lane at Chicago Blues Fest, Women in Blues Stage, June 12th, 2:55 pm Mary Lane Dates in June
Local Singer Helping Other Musicians in Need, Holle Thee Maxwell ‘Making A Difference’ on NBC 5
"You sing a song and I'll sing a song. And we'll sing a song together."
The Collection features over 100+ photographs and art of 'Women of the Blues' performing, in portrait and screaming the blues. The curated collection is a tribute to Alligator recording artist, Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor and supports the Koko Taylor Celebrity Aid Foundation and the Sisters of Royalty among other benefactors. Twenty photographers from around the world share their very poignant and powerful images of these extraordinary women, photographed from the stage at the Chicago Blues Festival to the Maui Sugar Mill in Los Angeles, from the Blues Cruise on the Caribbean to festivals on the East Coast.
The Collection takes you behind the lens that captured the images of superstars like Mavis Staples and Irma Thomas to beloved West Coast artist Candye Kane and Sherry Jackson Pruitt. Other featured artists include Koko Taylor Award recipient Ruthie Foster, Chicago's Southern soul blues diva Nellie 'Tiger' Travis, the legendary Holle Thee Maxwell, international touring blues singer Deitra Farr, and rising star the newly crowned Queen of the Blues, Shemekia Copeland, daughter of Johnny Copeland, and Tomiko Dixon, granddaughter of Willie Dixon, and many more beautiful images of women who sing and play the blues.
The world premiere of ‘Women of the Blues – A Coast To Coast Collection’ was first presented by Orman Music And Media Group at Firecat Projects in Chicago, May 27, 2016 and opened June 8th in conjunction with the Chicago Blues Festival. The exhibit was on display October 3rd through December 12, 2016 at The University of Chicago Medical Center. The ‘Women Of The Blues – A Coast To Coast Collection’ was on display at the National Blues Museum in St. Louis January 7th through March 31st, 2017. “Women of the Blues: A Coast To Coast Collection” made a return appearance to the University of Chicago Medical Center, in celebration of World Music Festival in September and the first Logan Center Blues Festival in October. A portion of full exhibit was back on display at the HydePark Campus. The show was located in the skybridge between Mitchell Hospital and DCAM. In 2017 Collection was shown on the Jumbotron at the Petrillo Bandshell for 2017 Chicago Blues Festival. In January 2020, the Collection opened at the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis.
Opening in March of 2020, Lynn Orman Weiss, founder and curator of Women of the Blues Foundation in partnership with Delmark Records President and CEO, Julia A. Miller, celebrated Women's History Month with an exhibit featuring 100 blues women, and highlighted past and present blues women in the Delmark Records family. The collection paid tribute to the 100 years of historical recordings, the first million dollar selling blues song, “Crazy Blues” by Mamie Smith, a breakthrough into mainstream recording, and to pay homage to the women of the Suffrage Movement.
In the summer of 2022, Lynn curated the Collection at the Epiphany Center for the Arts that featured the line-up of Women Blues Performers at The Chicago Blues Festival, and presented a lecture on Women of the Blues at Chicago’s historic Cliff Dweller’s Club.
The touring exhibit is available for showings at museums, hospitals, schools and art galleries interested in educating the public about the blues divas both present and past, their musical journey and contributions to American Roots Music and the art of unique visions of seasoned photographers from across the country and around the world, who focus on blues music and those talented performers who inspire them.
Please contact Lynn Orman Weiss, Women of the Blues to arrange a showing in a city near you.
Learn more about THE EXHIBIT.
Learn more about THE PHOTOGRAPHERS.
