Actor Morgan Freeman is set to release his first blues album, Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, on Aug. 7. The 12-track project features collaborations with Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’ and Shemekia Copeland.
The album traces 100 years of blues history and includes a full symphony orchestra. A lead track, a cover of Son House’s “Death Letter Blues” performed by Taj Mahal, is available now.
Freeman said the music connects to his Mississippi roots. “I heard the blues for the first time on my grandmother’s porch in the Mississippi Delta, and it has never left me,” he said in a statement.
Producer Eric Meier noted the Juneteenth timing of the announcement. A three-city tour will support the release, beginning Aug. 7 in Houston, followed by shows in Memphis on Sept. 26 and Gulfport, Mississippi, on Oct. 17.
Freeman continues his acting work on the Paramount+ series Lioness and recently narrated the Netflix series The Dinosaurs.