On The Blues and Jazz Trail

Chicago or The windy city as it is known , is a  beautiful city with a mix of modern and baroque style buildings. Terribly jet lagged on the first day there but knowing that we needed to get out of the hotel lest we succumbed to tired eyes,  we decided to take the  architectural tour via a  cruise on the river. Best decision we made, the cold crisp air ensured that we didn’t sleep (well most of the time ) and with a humorous and entertaining   guide who regaled us with scandalous  tidbits , it was truly a good way to see the city with its various ‘Hollywood’  buildings like the Transformers building, The Batman  building and the round  car park to name a few.

Chicago is home to Jazz and Blues and hosts the biggest free blues festival in the world. And it’s true.. tis really the home of  the Chicago blues which is apparently their own version of the Blues. I didn’t know this. Dating back to the days of the Depression, which saw many Black Americans migrate from St Louis and further south to industrial towns to try and make it , it was here in Chicago,  that  great musicians like Muddy waters , Howlin Wolf , Buddy Guy  started out as street musicians..And even today, on the sidewalks  one sees a number of  buskers playing the sax or the guitar just singing the blues. I wondered as I watched one of them, could this be a legend in the making? One particularly endearing image in my mind was an old timer jamming away, complete with harmonica , banjo, guitar and cymbals between his knees , singing the blues and singing it as  he saw it…. the bus that just pulled up and the sound it made and the hat on a little boys head.. and  he was playing for the sheer joy of the music and I don’t know how the words just flowed. In Chicago , everyone sings and sings well.  If you are big on your music particularly   blues/jazz …..theres no other place like Chicago outside of St Louis ....thats what I am  told anyways and I can certainly believe it .

The Legends, a Bar owned by Buddy Guy, on a side road pays testament to this. Legends hosts acoustic sets (encouraging new talent) throughout the day  and once the headliners come in at 9 PM every day , ..theres no place to stand ....We were lucky  to get a table that night. This wonderful intimate atmosphere

Buddy Guys 'Legends

where everyone is so totally in the moment  jamming with them old timers on stage , was nothing like I’ve ever experienced before.  The place itself is filled with memorabilia from Guitars owned by the greats ,photographs dating to the 50s ,to a  petition signed by all big names in the music industry  to include some Mr Johnson to be included in the Rock of Fame.  That night ,Mr Ronnie Hicks and his band played some fabulous  music, each one of the band members able to take the other on a different ride and then sitting  back waiting  for the response….so impromptu  and so much at ease  with their talent and soo loving it.. Apparently Buddy Guy does come in occasionally and jams with whoever is playing on stage.  Chicago is filled with places like this, Howl at the moon , The Redhead Piano Bar  The Greenmill  of the Al Capone fame to name a few. Going by popular choice we checked out Andy’s Jazz  &  blues bar which plays host to a number of jazz talents. I am not so clued in on Jazz and the great musicians. But really, it doesn’t matter…The music takes you places and just seeing the raw talent in that small bar, surrounded by folk who are there for the music(and not just to be seen as often the case in Dubai ) Big smiles all around , loud unbridled appreciation, heads a tapping,  yeahs all around… Fabulous.

Mr Hicks & his Band 

Yup Chicago with its beautiful buildings and friendly people was wonderful to experience .If there's anything about the Americans that I love, its their positivity…from our waiter at the hotel to the homeless lady in the corner to the sales ladies at the store..they are so liberal with their positiveness and blessings…. That by itself is something that will draw me back again. Their ‘how u doing maam’ is so nice.. We know they don’t really want to know more ,but just the asking with a smile brought  a smile to my face everytime.

Incredible Spelt Salad with Pork Loins 

How can I speak of our travels without talking about the other thing that I am passionate about....food.. O my gosh, having sworn off pork after a recent Europe trip, I’m back to loving it .The Americans do their pork like no one  else .  I had the most tender Pork Loin in spiced apple sauce and the  Spelt and  dried  cherry salad was the perfect side to it .

I was not going to leave the US without trying their famous juicy steaks and although I’m not so much of a beef person of late, I was not going to go away without experiencing some of the cuts. After a bit of research and asking around I decided to try out a gastro pub interestingly called  Sidedoor Unlocked .

The waiter, a Van Halen fan helped me with my   choice and I opted for a platter which had about 4 oz of tender Angus cuts accompanied by Au jus, whipped horseradish and mustard along with a few slices of inhouse baked bread, focaccia . It was just the right amount of meat and really, I didn’t need to drizzle any of the sauce over the meat, it was juicy, tender and melted in my mouth. The whipped  The whipped horseradish was sharp with  just a bit of tangyness . And all the while my Van Halen friend kept me entertained with his stories of the band  and reunions.

The Best Angus Cuts. 

Soul food is very popular and the Gumbo and Jambalaya can be found everywhere. The Veg Gumbo at Legends  reminded me a bit of our curry dal… tasty with Cajun spices and comforting in the bitter cold. The sauces that came with the seafood were all different to what we are used to here in Dubai . From Bourbon sauce with  Cajun spices to  Creole mustard sauce we tried them all . The only thing that we missed out on was Étouffée ..

Another reason to go back? I think so….  The Side Door is unlocked.