CHICAGO – As we make our way up the narrow, windowless, wooden stairway, we hear the jangly opening beats of The Rolling Stones' “2120 South Michigan Avenue” playing from a portable speaker behind us.

In 1964, the Rolling Stones took a break from their first American tour to record several songs at Chess Records at 2120 S. Michigan Ave. It was where Chicago’s Black blues performers made the records ...

In 2010, a day after drumming before 27,000 blues fans, with pop star John Mayer’s trio at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in a Bridgeview soccer stadium, prolific session musician Steve Jordan ...

For someone ranked No. 2 in the world, playing competitive games of chess sits curiously low on grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura’s list of priorities. “I look at it as something to do to get away from ...

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with the son of the co-founder of the legendary blues label Chess Records. Marshall Chess has released a new album, "The Chess Project." The blues is a family business for ...