Morgan Freeman tells the story of the blues

World-renowned actor Morgan Freeman has always had a genuine passion for the blues. With Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, he produces and narrates a twelve-track journey through the history of this music. Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Shemekia Copeland and several Mississippi artists join forces with the Chineke! Orchestra. The album will be available digitally on August 14. The physical release is scheduled for September 25.

On Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, the actor serves as narrator and producer. His voice provides the common thread throughout an album that revisits nearly a century of blues, from Blind Willie Johnson to the soundtrack of the film Sinners.

The project brings together musicians from the Delta, several major figures from the contemporary blues scene and the Chineke! Orchestra. The blues sections were recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis, while the orchestral parts were recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London.

“I first heard the blues on my grandmother’s porch in the Mississippi Delta, and it has never left me,” explains Morgan Freeman.

A passion that goes back a long way

Born in Memphis and raised partly in Mississippi, Morgan Freeman has long maintained a close connection with the blues. In 2001, he notably helped create the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, which he still co-owns with Eric Meier and Howard Stovall.

The venue regularly welcomes local artists and supports a musical tradition that remains very much alive in the Delta. Several of its regular performers appear on the album, including James “Super Chikan” Johnson, Anthony “Big A” Sherrod, Keith Johnson and Adrienne “Lady Adrena” Ervin.

“Born from stories carried from West Africa to the American South, the blues became a testament to an unbroken human spirit, the sound of America’s past and present, and the heartbeat of a culture that refused to be forgotten,” says Morgan Freeman.

From the Delta to Abbey Road

Produced in part by Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell, owner of Royal Studios, the album is built around arrangements by composer and conductor Martin Gellner. The challenge is to combine the power of a symphony orchestra with the simplicity and tension of the blues without burying the songs beneath the strings.

The first single, Death Letter Blues, offers an initial glimpse of the result. Taj Mahal revisits the Son House classic, accompanied by the Chineke! Orchestra. The track was released on June 19 to mark Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Featuring Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’ and Shemekia Copeland

The cast extends far beyond the Ground Zero Blues Club. Keb’ Mo’ revisits Cadillac Assembly Line, recorded by Albert King in 1976. Alvin Youngblood Hart performs The Thrill Is Gone, while Shemekia Copeland takes on the Staple Singers classic I’ll Take You There with the Stax Music Academy Choir.

Tiernii Jackson, lead singer of Southern Avenue, revisits Traveling Riverside Blues by Robert Johnson. James “Super Chikan” Johnson performs Crossroads, while Lady Adrena tackles Dust My Broom.

More than a personal album by Morgan Freeman, Symphonic Blues Experience presents itself as a history of the blues told through his voice. It is an ambitious project spanning the Delta, cinema and symphonic music, above all seeking to remind listeners of everything the blues has contributed to American music as a whole.

Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, the tracklist

1. Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground – Morgan Freeman and Keith Johnson
2. Crossroads – James “Super Chikan” Johnson
3. Death Letter Blues – Taj Mahal
4. Dust My Broom – Adrienne “Lady Adrena” Ervin and Alvin Youngblood Hart
5. The Thrill Is Gone – Alvin Youngblood Hart
6. Cadillac Assembly Line – Keb’ Mo’
7. Somebody’s Knockin’ – Anthony “Big A” Sherrod
8. Traveling Riverside Blues – Tiernii Jackson and Alvin Youngblood Hart
9. I’ll Take You There – Shemekia Copeland and the Stax Music Academy Choir
10. Tried and Tried – Anthony “Big A” Sherrod
11. Someday – Anthony “Big A” Sherrod
12. I Lied to You – Keith Johnson and Alvin Youngblood Hart

Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience will be available digitally on August 14, 2026, via Decca Records. The physical release is scheduled for September 25.