If you’re looking for blues while you are in Chicago for APA’s 2000 annual meeting May 13 to 18, you are in the right place: the city has given its name to a particular genre of this quintessentially American music.

The Chicago blues is "the electrified form of the acoustic, rural Mississippi delta blues that came up the river with the huge northward migration of rural blacks that began in the 1920s and continued for the next 30 to 40 years," observed Wayne Hearn, a Chicago-based journalist and regular contributor to the magazine Big City Blues. It is "basically a style performed by small combos that play classic 12-bar blues" as opposed to rhythm and blues, which may include horns and other embellishments, he explained.

Among the exemplars of Chicago blues is guitarist Buddy Guy, whose club Legends combines music and Cajun cooking. Guy, who still spends a lot of time on the road, is known and beloved by blues fans everywhere. He has been credited as a major influence by later generations of both blues musicians and rock musicians, including Eric Clapton and the late Jimi Hendrix. The stage hosts a variety of local and national acts. Reservations are not accepted.

The New Checkerboard Lounge is one of Chicago’s last links to the "blues glory days of the 1950s and 1960s," according to Hearn. The club is "internationally known as having been ground zero for much of the seminal blues music that came out of Chicago in that era," he noted. But the club is not merely a historical relic; it remains a vital venue for blues musicians young and old and a top spot for Chicago visitors interested in the blues.

The club is in a marginal neighborhood, so drive or take a cab rather than public transit, Hearn advised. The lounge hosts four sets nightly starting at 9:30 p.m. with a $5 to $6 cover.

A favorite neighborhood blues club is Rosa’s Lounge. "It’s my favorite blues bar in the city because it’s unique," said Hearn. The club is run by Italian immigrant Tony Mangiullo and his mother Rosa. It’s an intimate setting, with a pool table, bar, and small seating area. "They bill themselves as the friendliest blues place in town," said Hearn, "and they really are."

Tony Mangiullo is himself a blues drummer who picks up the drumsticks and beats a rhythm at the club every Thursday and often jams with whoever is there on other nights. The club has "a stable of regulars that rotate through" according to Hearn, and they include some of Chicago’s best local blues musicians, such as guitarist Melvin Taylor and harmonica player Sugar Blue. Nationally known musicians occasionally play the club as well.

Rosa’s is open Tuesday through Saturday, and charges a $5 to $10 cover. Doors open at 8 p.m. and shows start about 9:30 p.m., going until 3 a.m. Saturdays and 2 a.m. other nights. Tony’s E-mail is tony@rosaslounge.

Up on North Halsted Street is a bar called B.L.U.E.S., across the street from another well-known venue, Kingston Mines. Together these clubs have anchored Chicago’s North Side blues scene for decades, according to Hearn.

The clubs "complement each other" in that B.L.U.E.S. is a small, intimate club while Kingston Mines is much larger, featuring two bands on two stages, Hearn added. Kingston Mines "tends to be more raucous" particularly on weekends, he noted. "If you want to settle in and do some serious listening, B.L.U.E.S. is the better atmosphere," said Hearn, but if you "want to go out with a party of 10 people and sit at a big table, Kingston Mines is the better option."

Shows at B.L.U.E.S. start around 9:30 p.m. daily and there’s a $5 to $10 cover. Shows at Kingston Mines start around 9:30 p.m. daily and go until 5 a.m. Saturdays and 4 a.m. other nights, with a $9 to $12 cover.

Another good-time club is Koko Taylor’s Celebrity Club. Taylor owns the club, which opened in November 1999, and although she spends much time on tour, she does hang out at the club when she’s in town. Widely called the "Queen of the Blues," she is considered by many to be the premier working woman blues singer and has received more awards and acclaim than any other blues singer, according to online Centerstage.Net. She has won five Grammy awards including "Best Contemporary Blues Album," and 15 W. C. Handy Awards. A Willie Dixon song called "Wang Dang Doodle," written for Taylor, was one of the first hit singles for a female blues artist.

Located in the South Loop area, the club is only four blocks south of Legends, between the McCormick Place Hyatt and the Chicago Hilton and Towers. Blues and rhythm and blues are performed five nights a week (Wednesday through Sunday). There is a $6 cover charge, but many hotels have complimentary passes, so ask your concierge. Depending on the show, the club also gives out-of-state visitors a $2 discount provided they can show an out-of-state driver’s license. Reservations are not accepted. The club features soul food and is open Sunday through Friday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., and Saturday 5 p.m. to 3 a.m.

For a different flavor check out House of Blues. (The club is adjacent to a recently opened hotel of the same name, with décor that might be described as "retro-blues-art-deco.") House of Blues features acts that range from Doctor John (the Doctor John of the "Doctor John the Night Tripper and his Vodoo Band") to more contemporary rock and roll and rhythm and blues. It also features the "Sunday Gospel Brunch."

If you’d like to visit just one jazz spot in Chicago, Hearn recommends Green Mill at 4802 North Broadway. It’s "the best jazz bar in town," he said. "It’s a time warp. You walk in there and the place probably hasn’t changed a bit in 50 years."

Green Mill has a fabled past stretching back to Prohibition days when it was a favorite speakeasy frequented by notorious gangster Al Capone. The club is rumored to have a tunnel in the basement that runs all the way to Lake Michigan a mile away, according to Hearn. The tunnel was said to be used both for escapes and for deliveries of bootleg liquor.

In addition to serving as a top jazz venue, Green Mill is also home of Sunday night poetry slams and was the site of the world’s first poetry slam in the 1980s, according to Hearn.

Cover is $2 to $7, and except for Sunday nights, jazz is the attraction. Shows start at 9 p.m. or so and go until 5 a.m. on Saturdays and 4 a.m. other nights. The Mill fills up quickly, so arrive early.