Chicago Blues Tour with Jazz – June 11th

You will go to Chicago neighborhoods north to south to uncover the cultural history of Chicago blues and jazz. This Chicago blues tour mixes a Chicago blues tour with a Chicago jazz history tour, then throws in some perceptive ideas in cultural history and architecture. While it is not a tour of Chicago blues clubs, we do have live music from a blues musician who hops on our bus! He will even teach you how to play blues harmonica. It’s an unforgettable experience of Chicago architecture, music history, and Chicago blues.

For this Chicago Blues Tour with Jazz, a highly trained, passionate tour guide shares forgotten stories of Chicago’s rich musical past. The luxury coach has video screens with historic photos and film clips of interviews, songs and performances.

Rather than fly by a trivia list of places where blues musicians and jazz greats played, recorded, or lived, our Chicago blues tour by bus digs deep into how Chicago became such a hotbed for these genres. And our style of tour is active. Tour guide asks guests questions and also the group hops off the bus for up-close looks at significant Chicago architecture. We consider, for example, the Aragon Ballroom and the former Chess Records.

You also get exclusive entrance into a building with relics from its time as a 1920s and 1930s jazz club. To top off this unforgettable private group tour, a Chicago blues musician comes on board for a blues harmonica lesson.

• Aragon Ballroom and its ornate architecture
• Green Mill Jazz Club
• Michigan Avenue “cliff” and Historic Hotels
• Exclusive Entrance to Former Sunset Cafe, a former 1920s Jazz Club
• Chess Records, a Chicago blues landmark
• Pilgrim Baptist Church, famous for gospel
• Former Site of the Maxwell Street Market
• Live Blues Performance and Harmonica Lesson

• The history of the Great Migration
• Racial segregation and integration
• “Chicago Blues” defined
• Evolution of jazz and blues musical genres
• Music as a catalyst for community

• Engaging tour guide commentary
• Luxury coach transport up to 3 hours
• Video presentation via screens on bus
• Exclusive entrance to stage of former jazz club
• Blues musician performance
• Harmonica gifts