"Chamber Blues was neither my idea nor my fault," says harmonica wizard Corky Siegel. "It grabbed me and it won't let go!" This unique mixture of Chicago blues and classical chamber music got started when Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa invited Corky Siegel and his Siegel-Schwall Band to perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the free-spirited year of 1966. Chamber Blues is played by a string quartet, an east Indian tabla, and blues harmonica and piano, with vocals on occasion–on this occasion by Marcella Detroit, a.k.a. Marcy Levy, who was one half of the UK band Shakespear's Sister. Chamber blues not a blend of classical and blues, Corky explains, but "a juxtaposition of classical and blues flavors." It's also still unlike anything else on the musical landscape.