Kansas City, Kansas, Street Blues Festival

Kansas City, Kansas, Street Blues Festival
The Kansas City, Kansas, Street Blues Festival has always been a trip back in time. At any moment, an announcer will call up some classic blues figure who turns up in documentaries. This year, it might be Dennis Binder, veteran of Sun Record sessions and a long stint in Ike Turner’s band. Or it might be St. Louis guitarist Henry Townsend (born 1909) or Mississippi Delta bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards (born 1915), whose early records were 78s and who played with Robert Johnson himself. Maybe it’ll be Houston’s “Texas” Johnny Brown, who started out in the ’40s with Amos Wilburn’s Aladdin Chickenshackers. When those notes begin flying, you suddenly hear exactly what the blues used to be — and for a little while longer, those smoky ol’ days are still here.