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Morgan Freeman is bringing his famous voice to a new kind of project.

The 89-year-old Oscar winner is preparing to release his first full-length music project, Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience, on Friday (August 14).

Despite Morgan‘s name appearing in the title, he is not the album’s primary singer. He serves as its narrator and producer, guiding listeners through a 12-song exploration of approximately 100 years of blues history, according to Rolling Stone.

The project combines performances from the Ground Zero Blues Club Band with orchestral contributions recorded by the Chineke! Orchestra at London’s Abbey Road Studios. Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Shemekia Copeland, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Anthony “Big A” Sherrod are among the musicians featured on the collection.

Its selections reach from Blind Willie Johnson‘s 1927 recording “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” to “I Lied to You,” which appeared on the soundtrack for Sinners.

“I heard the blues for the first time on my grandmother’s porch in the Mississippi Delta, and it has never left me,” Morgan said in a statement announcing the project.

His connection to the genre extends far beyond the album. Morgan co-founded the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi, approximately 25 years ago to provide a home for Delta blues musicians and help preserve the region’s musical legacy.

The album also has a live counterpart. Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience uses narration filmed at Ground Zero alongside cinematic visuals, live blues performances, and a symphony orchestra. The production played Houston’s Wortham Center this month, with additional performances scheduled in Memphis and Gulport, Mississippi.

Morgan is also currently appearing in the third season of Taylor Sheridan’s Lioness, which premiered earlier this month on Paramount+.

Listen to “Cadillac Assembly Line, featuring Keb’ Mo’ below.

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