It’s mighty cold down on the Maxwell Street Market these days, and it isn’t just the winter weather bringing the chill. The University of Illinois was recently given the go-ahead to purchase most of the land in the area: vacant lots have been fenced off, most of the few remaining buildings have been demolished, several longtime vendors have left in frustration, and some of the open spaces where the blues bands play in the summertime have been made inaccessible. After years of rumors and false threats, the demise of the legendary open-air market is finally imminent.
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Music will be provided by some of the market’s best-known musicians–the veteran Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis, Willie James and Maxwell Blues, guitarist David Lindsey, and the Black Knights Blues Band featuring John “Dancin”‘ Perkins and Riler “Ice Man” Robinson. O.V. Page, one of Maxwell Street’s most beloved and venerable figures, will serve as guest emcee. He’ll bring his battered old cigar box and stalk through the crowd encouraging donations for the band, as he’s done on the street for decades.
