The Roots of Chicago's Sound

By Julene McCoy in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 10, 2006 5:49PM

Chicagoist is biased about our beloved town and its music scene, but that’s only because we know it’s the best. Starting this weekend, the Chicago History Museum has a new exhibit opening featuring the best of “Sweet Home Chicago”.

Jazz, gospel, country, blues, and folk music are all represented in this collection curated by Alison Eisendrath. The exhibit showcases some pieces that never seem to make it into other exhibits, but are really diamonds in the rough. The whole idea is to show how people bring music from their hometowns to their new living spaces in Chicago and how our town has transformed those "roots" into a new Chicago-based brand of the original genre.

Mahalia Jackson’s red choir robe and Thomas Dorsey’s gray-blue piano are a couple of the larger artifacts in the collection. We’re looking forward to some of the gig posters from Bloodshot. We’re huge geeks for those.

The Chicago History Museum is located at 1601 N. Clark. Admission is a suggested $12 for adults, but Mondays are free. Check out the hours here.