Morgan Freeman has released Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience, a new album that pairs blues standards with orchestral arrangements from London's Chineke! Orchestra. The project is the latest venture from Ground Zero Blues Club, the Clarksdale, Mississippi juke joint the actor co-founded in 2001 near the site of Robert Johnson's fabled crossroads, and it matters as another chapter in Freeman's decades-long effort to champion and preserve blues heritage beyond his famous acting career.

The album features artists including Taj Mahal covering Son House's "Death Letter Blues", Keb' Mo' performing Albert King's "Cadillac Assembly Line", and Shemekia Copeland tackling Johnson's "Traveling Riverside Blues", alongside historical narration from Freeman himself. Proceeds benefit the Ground Zero Arts Foundation, the club's charitable arm, and the record grew out of a touring live show of the same name. In the interview, the 89-year-old Freeman, speaking alongside Ground Zero co-owner and CEO Eric Meier, reflected on hearing blues as a young child in Mississippi, his teenage ambitions as a musician cut short by illness, and said he has no plans to retire.