Released by Shanachie Entertainment, this multi-pac covers the life and times of Chicago’s legendary Maxwell Street, where a kaleidoscope of races and religions congregated by the thousands to shop amongst street musicians, blues greats, preachers, hustlers and vendors.

The DVD features the acclaimed Mike Shea Documentary And This is Free, a cult classic in the history of cinema-verite filmmaking for which Kartemquin’s Gordon Quinn was a soundman and assistant editor, and Shuli Eshel’s Maxwell Street: A Living Memory, capturing the essence of the market through the eyes of the children and grandchildren of the Eastern European Jewish immigrants who built it.  The 17-track CD is a fascinating overview of blues on Maxwell Street going back to the 1920s – from itinerant street musicians up through the rise of electric Chicago blues.