Actor Morgan Freeman cancels Arizona music festival appearance

Morgan Freeman will no longer be on hand to take part in a pre-show Q&A when his Symphonic Blues Experience arrives at Highlands Church in Scottsdale as part of a sold-out Arizona Musicfest event on Jan. 8.

But the show, which features pre-recorded video narration by the Oscar-winning actor, will go on without him.

Morgan Freeman‘s Symphonic Blues Experience is an immersive multimedia production boasting live performances by celebrated Delta blues musicians from Freeman’s own Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and orchestration by the Musicfest Pops Ensemble.

The actor was supposed to have appeared at beginning of the concert.

According to Arizona Musicfest, this show is one of several January concerts Freeman will no longer be attending due to a scheduling conflict.

Musicfest patrons have been notified.

Eric Meirer, who is co-creator and co-owner with Freeman of the Ground Zero Blues Club, a live music venue in Freeman‘s hometown in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and the Symphonic Blues Experience, told the Louisville Courier Journal he came up with the idea for powerful cinematic storytelling combined with live blues and an orchestral performance after attending a concert which combined an Australian hip-hop group and a symphony.

“It was so powerful and the audience’s reaction was so overwhelmingly positive that I thought, ‘why can’t we do something similar with the blues?'” Meirer said.

After presenting Morgan Freeman‘s Symphonic Blues Experience in Dublin, Ireland and Salzburg, Austria, Freeman and Meirer’s moving tribute to America’s musical heritage is now crisscrossing the U.S.

The audience in Scottsdale will be treated to the Musicfest Pops Ensemble backing a group of legendary blues musicians and a visual component narrated by Freeman, which he recorded at his Ground Zero Blues Club in Mississippi.

The Symphonic Blues Experience traces the unique path of the music genre as it moves north out of the Mississippi Delta through places like Memphis and into Chicago, where it was first electrified, with an emphasis on its impact on rock ‘n’ roll and artists like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

“It’s truly an immersive and one-of-a-kind experience,” Freeman said. “And there is an additional upside to this collaboration. We are reintroducing audiences to the orchestra or symphony in their hometown.”

With a career spanning six decades, Freeman has won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Million Dollar Baby” (2004) and received four additional Oscar nominations for his performances in “Street Smart” (1987), “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989), “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994), and “Invictus” (2009).

When he’s not touring with the Symphonic Blues Experience, Freeman, 88, continues to work as an actor, narrator and producer. He lives on his ranch near Clarksdale, Mississippi, where he also runs his blues club and has a private pilot license for quick trips around the country.

“It’s all about staying active,” he said. “Once you start sitting around, you’re done. Just keep moving,” the actor said. “I’d say that’s the secret to longevity.”

‘Morgan Freeman‘s Symphonic Blues Experience’

WHAT: A concert hosted by actor Morgan Freeman that bridges Mississippi Delta Blues with the richness of the Arizona Musicfest Pops Ensemble.Freeman introduces the performance, which also includes a pre-recorded narrated visual component.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8.

WHERE: Highlands Church, 9050 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale.

TICKETS: Sold out

MORE INFORMATION: azmusicfest.org.

Reporting by Kirby Adams and Ed Masley, Louisville Courier Journal