Mississippi Heat Lives It Up

It has been nearly twenty years since Pierre Lacocque formed the Chicago blues band and revue in one, Mississippi Heat, who have just issued their latest album on Delmark, Let’s Live It Up! Over the years, Lacocque has assembled various line-ups and for this disc vocalist Inetta Visor returns while Christopher ‘Hambone’ Cameron handles the keyboards and Stephen Howard the bass with Kenny Smith handling the drums for some of the 14 performances. Special guests include guitarists Carl Weathersby and John Primer, with the latter handling several vocals, and the Chicago Horns.

Lacocque contributed most of the songs here (originals with one exception) including the wild-ass p[arty rocker that opens this. He covers so many bases as a writer, able to handle songs in a traditional Chicago style such as Steadfast, Loyal and True, with some prime singing and playing from Primer. Jumpin’ in Chi-Town, is a supersonic tempo rocker with nice chromatic harp and brassy horns punctuating Inetta’s sassy vocal, while Inetta soulfully delivers She Died of a Broken Heart, an original she and Cameron collaborated on.

Primer is up front on “Betty Sue,” a hard rocker in the vein of Linda Lu, with some driving chicken-picking guitar in addition to Primer’s vocal. Another Sleepless Night, is a soul-blues with a strong lyric and an insistent vocal from Inetta backed by a driving backing with nice imaginative harp and a strong chromatic solo. Peace Train, is a gospel number with rollicking piano in the backing, while Weathersby biting guitar is prominent on Been Good To You, with choice solos also by Cameron and the leader.

The one cover here is the lively rendering of Sugar Pie DeSanto I Want To Know. Another highlight is Daggers & Spears, which introduces another singer, Rhonda Preston, who belts out the vocal. He delivery is more in the vein of a shouter in contrast to Inetta Visor’s more dry, sober approach with Giles Covey taking a solid solo. Primer’s own I Got the News Today, is another terrific performance in the traditional Chicago blues style, before the closing Until We Meet Again, a peppy closing number that is unusual to hear on a recording with Giles Covey a spirited solo before Lacocque closes it out on chromatic.

Mississippi Heat maintains their winning formula on Let’s Live It Up! with good original material, strong and authoritative singing, an excellent band that is comfortable in several different blues styles and excellent soloists. The result is another collection of blues that should appeal to those loving Chicago blues.

This review originally appeared in the July 2010 Jazz & Blues Report. I received my review copy from Delmark.

Quintus McCormick Puts The Blues On Us!!!

In reviewing Quintus McCormick’s debut CD Hey Jodie (Delmark), this writer found it to be “a marvelous debut album by a blues voice I to hear more from.” About two years later and Delmark has brought us its follow-up Put It On Me! It is a release that builds upon his strengths whether working ins straight blues or in a straight deep soul vein. On this release, in addition to his fine quartet of John Chorney on keyboards, Vic Jackson on bass and Jeremiah Thomas on drums, their are appearance by Billy Branch on harmonica and the Chicago horns.

About his prior album, I observed that McCormick has “developed into a contemporary urban blues voice with a strong soul-blues tinge. He brings a vocal style that captures elements of Charles Wilson, Little Milton, and others with an intense guitar style… .” There is more of this on this release that show him moving from a lazy Jimmy Reed styled shuffle You Just Using Me; to Talk Baby, with its funk and his high tenor vocal; and to the soulful ballad How Quick We Forget, with some deep Brook Benton evoking singing, with a fuzzy toned, buzzy guitar solo. Its a pretty remarkable variety, and that’s just the first three numbers.

There is a fine blues, I Got It Babe, with a Malaco groove (think Down Home Blues) where he sings “I got what you need, make you scream like you’re sweet sixteen” to effective spare backing. John Chorney shines on keyboards here. Another good blues is The Blues Has Been Good to Me with a fine vocal and nice harp from Billy Branch. In contrast, Loveland, with the Chicago horns, is a ballad with a nice groove. The following blues shuffle, “Don’t Know What to Do, has more fine Billy Branch harp and a strong McCormick vocal, but also a fuzzy blues-rock guitar solo that detracts from the performance. The title track is a nice blues performance whose melody hints at Muddy Waters’ classic recording of I’m Ready.

The country soul of “Sadie” has jazzier guitar playing as well with McCormick asking the woman to leave him alone. Another fine slow blues vocal is on Lady Blues with more good guitar (suggestive of mid-60s B.B. King and Detroit bluesman Johnnie Bassett) while the closing Hallelujah, is a wonderfully sung R&B styled gospel number played in a low-key manner. It closes an impressive second album by McCormick who certainly shows absolutely no sophomore slump on this excellent Put It On Me!

My review copy was supplied by the record company.