Words & Photos: Howard Greenblatt

Oak Park native Neal Francis brought his six-piece band to Millennium Park on September 9 to support Chicago In Tune, a new citywide festival celebrating Chicago’s diverse and legendary music scene and the 2021 Year of Chicago Music.

The Neal Francis Band show was one of 10 genre-defying concerts at Millennium Park as part of the Mayor’s ‘Open Chicago’ initiative to safely and fully reopen the city.

Bandleader, organist and vocalist, Neal Francis has been compared to Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Billy Preston and Sly Stone, but his sound is fresh, unique and all his own.

Neal grew up outside of Chicago and, while making a name for himself in music, ventured into the city to sit-in with various blues bands, including Muddy Waters’ son, Mud Morganfield. He ended up touring Europe with Mud at age 18.

He was also mentored by Chicago boogie woogie master Erwin Helfer as a teenager.

But unfortunately, Neal suffered from drug and alcohol addiction and by 2015 he was fired from the band he’d been playing with and began the struggle of rebuilding his life.

It took passion and determination, but eventually Neal began writing songs, hooked up with retro-driven producer Sergio Rios, and signed with Karma Chief Records.

On November 9th, Neal will release his second album In Plain Sight. 

“When I started the process of writing these songs, I was so emotionally out-of-sorts and really kind of hopeless that I’d be able to come up with anything,” says Francis. “But then I sat down and started working, and embraced whatever inspiration came my way. Sometimes it felt like beating my head against a wall, but I tried to trust that it would lead somewhere. The whole thing was like a weird dream—this very strange time of terrible, wonderful isolation.”

His excellent band rounded out an uplifting live experience at an evening set at an outdoor bandshell last Thursday, but this crew may be even better in a packed club at night. Here’s hoping we get to experience that feeling soon.

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