Interesting take on recent Jazz Reissues

Tim Niland on his blog, Jazz & Blues Music Reviews has a very interest take on The Keepnews Collection of Jazz Reissues that Concord Music has started issuing. These are reissues of discs that Orrin Keepnews had produced and many include alternate takes and new liner notes. Keepnews himself includes some commentary that Tim does characterize as "a little self-reverential." He does raise the issue of the producer (or engineer as in the case of the many recent Rudy van Gelder reissues) receiving co-billing with the performers. "But do they deserve co-billing with the musicians on these CDs? They did not in most cases compose songs or perform on instruments, but as a result of their longevity they are honored as if they were performers." More provokingly he comments, "Keepnews and Van Gelder certainly deserve their place in jazz history, but giving them equal billing with the musicians on classic albums seems a little bit much." This is concise and thought-provoking.
Here is a link to this specific blog entry, Revisionist History

Photographic Blog on Jazz 101 on Sale

A really wonderful and thought provoking writer on photgraphy (and a terrific photographer himself) Mike Johnston recently had a nice entry of the itunes Jazz 101 on Sale on his blog, theonlinephotographer. It includes some interesting discussion as well. Mike's blog entry - Riches in Store. Given that these are priced below what itunes usually charges, there are some gems you cannot go wrong with.

One interesting quote: "A Love Supreme is many peoples' first Coltrane record, which is unfortunate because it then becomes their last. Not that it's not a great record, but it should be peoples' eighth or tenth Coltrane CD, and their 200th jazz recording rather than their second*.)"

Sonny Rollins in London

A recent visit to the website of Sonny Rollins revealed that he has available for download four selections from a 1965 performance at London's Ronnie Scott club.

An email I received from Bret Primack, who is webmaster for sonnyrollins.com, noted:

"When Sonny appeared at Ronnie Scott's for one month in January of 1965, he was secretly recorded by someone in the audience.

"Those tapes have been shared by collectors globally, but last year they were released, without Sonny's permission, by a London based record label. All efforts to contact the label have proven fruitless, so instead, Sonny decided to release the music himself.

"Although these tracks are not digitally recorded, they do offer documentation of truly remarkable music. Some of the performances run half an hour and capture Sonny live in a way he's rarely heard on recordings."

In upcoming months additional tracks will be made available for download.

Dying Crapshooter's Blues

THE DYING CRAPSHOOTER’S BLUES
By David Fulmer
HARCOURT 2007
Atlanta based writer David Fulmer authored three acclaimed historical mysteries involving the Creole of Color detective Valentin St. Cyr set in New Orleans at the beginning of the 20th Century, and among the characters were such legendary jazz pioneers as Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton. Fulmer’s writing was atmospheric as well as thrilling as he skillfully weaved together the actual mystery against a background of Storyville and its musicians, madams, streetwalkers and associated characters.

Fulmer’s latest novel, The Dying Crapshooter’s Blues takes us to Atlanta of the mid-twenties and is inspired by the Blind Willie McTell song that the book takes its title from. McTell told Edward Rhodes, who recorded him in 1956, that the song was based on the shooting of Jesse Williams, a gambler that was shot on Courtland Street; and after McTell took him home, sick from the shot, he requested that McTell play the song over his grave.

From this simple premise, Fulmer weaves together the killing of Little Jesse Williams and a heist of a cache of jewels from a mansion of one of Atlanta’s leading citizens into a compelling story anchored around the efforts of Joe Rose, a rambler, gambler and thief, to find out why Little Jesse was shot and who stole the cache of jewels and how can they get returned. The dying Little Jesse and Blind Willie, who composes the song (as the story unfolds) both press Rose, a former policeman and Pinkerton, to help find out why Little Jesse was shot, even though the gambler does not help by not talking about what happened.

A black-hearted, power-hungry police officer, “The Captain,” who did not receive his expected promotion with the election of a new Mayor, presses Rose on solving the jewel heist with threats to him and the beauty Pearl Spencer if he isn’t successful. With more bodies turning up, Fulmer also weaves in Columbia Records coming to Atlanta and a fictional recreation of Blind Willie McTell’s first recording session. This book has the same virtues of the Valentin St. Cyr novels and I found this easy reading which did get compelling. I had to finish this before I went to sleep.

Even more so than the St. Cyr books, Fulmer weaves the musical threads as an indispensable element of the narrative as a whole, and if Blind Willie McTell is a secondarycharacter here (to Joe Rose), Fulmer presents us with a fictional McTell that comes across as a real person as opposed to say the highly mythologized romanticism of say Robert Johnson that has appeared in some blues fiction in which Johnson is a character.

If you want a good mystery, read and love jazz and blues, you won’t go wrong with David Fulmer, especially this excellent novel.

Ron Weinstock

This review originally appeared in Jazz & Blues Report, Issue 291.
www.jazz-blues.com

Farewell Paul deLay

Word has been filtering to the blues community that the multi-talented Paul deLay passed away from Leukemia. deLay had performed last weekend, and went into a Portland Hospital on Sunday when what was thought to be acute bronchitis turned out to be acute, end term Leukemia. On Tuesday he fell into a coma and died Wednesday, March 7.

deLay was a innovative blues harmonica player who incorporated jazz influences into his style. While a virtuouso, hi playing demonstrated a subtlety in his solos that eschewed simple crowd pleasing gimmicks. He also was a strong songwriter and vocalist with a soulful sound. He was also backed by a terrific band.

In the earlier part of his career, substance abuse hampered his career. After serving time for drug trafficking, he cleaned up and his career was rejuvenated producing several excellent albums including Ocean of Tears and Heavy Rotation for Evidence. I had the pleasure to hear him perform and meet him and he was a fabulous artist as well as a wonderful person. He will be missed.

Farewell Crown Prince Waterford

Word arrived over a month later that Rev. Solomon Charles "Crown Prince" Waterford passed away at the age of 90 on February 1. The Oklahoma City native began a recording career (I believe with Jay McShann) and recorded for Capital, Mercury and King Records and composed over thirty blues compositions. A terrific shouter in the vein of Walter Brown and Jimmy Witherspoon his earliest recordings have been compiled on the Classics label, In more recent years he moved to the Jacksonville Florida area where he served a a minister. In 2002 he had his first recordings in decades, All Over But the Shoutin' for Cypress Records.

This info taken from his myspace page, link.

In a description of the CD by Geechie Smith & Crown Prince Waterford - Swingin KC Combos on Blue Moon on www.bluebeatmusic.com has some stuff inconsistent with the above, sayig he was born Charles, born in Jonesboro, Arkanasas and sang in bands that included Andy Kirk and the Clouds of Joy (with Charlie Christian and Abe Bolar) before beginning his career as the Crown Prince of the Blues in Chicgao during the 1940s and started recording for hy-Tone and Aladdin in addition to Capitol. Here is the pertinent link.

Big Pete's Big New Blues

Big Pete Pearson
While the back of the CD cover for I’m Here Baby (Blue Witch) calls Phoenix based Big Pete Pearson a shouter, he comes across more like James Cotton crossed with a bit of Lonnie Brooks to give a sense what he sounds like.. Produced by Bob Corritore and joined by the likes of Ike Turner, Johnny Dyer, Joey Francesco, Leon Blue, Kid Ramos and W.C.Clark. The opening Too Many Drivers is a rocking shuffle in the vein Cotton excelled at with Matt Bishop providing the rollicking piano as Chris James and Johnny Rapp on guitar help push the groove while producer Corritore wails on harp. Its a good indication of what’s to come on this set of straight, no chaser blues. Leon Blue handles the ivories and Corritore is on chromatic harp on a nice version of Tin Pan Alley with a nice gritty vocal. A good song writer, his original The Way I See It, has him reaching down on his vocal, while Worried About My Baby is an easy rocking number with Johnny Dyer contributing a nice harp break on a recording that would have been at home on a vintage Chicago blues collection. I’m Here Baby, is a slow-drag bump and grind number that Pearson just pours his heart into. Ike Turner and Joey DeFrancesco are present for Big Legged Woman, a number that brings Lonnie Brooks to mind while a more West Coast flavor is on the evocative rendition of Percy Mayfield’s The Highway Is Like a Woman. Cousin W.C. Clark join on a spirited blues medley, trading verses and songs as well as the closing Texas Blues Memories. Possum Up the Tree, with Kid Ramos on guitar evokes vintage Muddy Waters while there is a down home flavor added to Natural Ball. While Texas born, Big Pete’s music sounds like he was in Chicago, not Phoenix, the past fifty years. This is an exhilarating blues disc that certainly should make him a singer in demand on the hopefully reviving blues circuit. This is a good one. Check out www.bluewitchrecords.com or www.bigpetepearson.net for more information.

Interesting new jazz and blues podcast

Tim Niland, who has a fascinating blog of jazz and blues reviews just has put forth a new podcast of jazz and blues with a diverse playlist that includes Otis Rush, Sunnyland Slim, Big Joe Turner, Earl Hooker and James Hunter with Williams Parker, Peter Brotzmann, Shirley Scott and Clifford Thornton amongst others. Click on podcast on his entry on the podcast and you can download it to listen to on your computer. A lot of fresh musical surprises are ins tore for those who give it a listen.

Remembering Robert Johnson

In 1991, the Smithsonian Institution's annual Folklife Festival presented, as one of the featured presentations of the Festival, The Roots of Rhythm and Blues: A Tribute to the Robert Johnson Era. I was fortunate enough to attend and had the pleasure to see a number of captivating workshops and performances. I still recall folklorist and scholar Worth Long asking Robert Lockwood and Johnny Shines about songs Robert Johnson performed but never recorded. That was the first time I heard of Hacksaw Harney who Robert Lockwood Jr said was one of the few guitarists other than his step-father who impressed Lockwood. There was marvelous music whether Ruth Brown on the first day singing accompanied by Robert Lockwood, or Vernell Townsend (accompanied by husband Henry) singing Stormy Monday as if Walter Davis had recorded that number. Of the artists I had not heard previously, Eddie Cusic stood out with his straight-ahead Delta style blues. Some music from that festival was issued on a Sony-Legacy album which only hinted at the music performed and collected. I reviewed it back in 1992 and here is my review as printed in Jazz and Blues Report out of Cleveland. (www.jazz-blues.org)

Roots Of Rhythm And Blues A Tribute To The Robert Johnson Era

Sony - Columbia

This release from Sony/Columbia, in conjunction with Smithsonian/Folkways, documents the program that was part of the 1991 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Those fortunate enough to attend the festival will remember some of these performances and the workshops, oral history and performers not represented here. In addition to associates of Robert Johnson, like the late Johnny “Ned” Shines, Robert Jr. Lockwood, David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards and Henry Townsend, a variety of delta blues and traditional African American performers were presented including Lonnie Pitchford, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and others. In addition to festival performers, there are ringers here. While Phil Wiggins appeared at the Festival, John Cephas did not. While I originally thought Cephas and Wiggins’ fine Brownsville Blues was from an earlier festival, I have been told this is a studio performance with dubbed-in applause. Toshi Reagon is heard on another studio recording, albeit without dubbed crowd noise. The centerpiece of the performances are several loose jams credited to Johnny “Ned” Shines (with these being his last “official recordings”) and ensemble. The ensemble includes Townsend on piano, Lockwood on guitar, Shines’ young associate Kent DuChaine on guitar, Lonnie Pitchford on bass guitar and Phil Wiggins on harmonica. There was another jam session with Honeyboy and Larry Wise replacing Lockwood and Wiggins, but nothing from that jam is represented here. Certainly the jam recordings are historic, although the music has some rough edges, with Pitchfords’s bass, Townsend’s piano and Lockwood’s strong authoritative playing keep things from getting too chaotic. The album opens with a very ragged Sweet Home Chicago, on which Shines’ singing sounded tired. The other songs, including his B.B. King influenced Loved and Lost (a retitled version of Have to Pay the Cost) are better performances. Also interesting are Shines’ three short acappella performances including a street vendor’s cry, Watermelons, and the traditional Tell Me How You Want Your Rolling Done. Documentation of these archaic song forms is invaluable whether by Shines, former Parchman Farm inmate David Savage, heard on two field hollers, or some retired railroad workers singing while demonstrating lining tracks. Lockwood and Edwards turn in workmanlike solo performances, Lonnie Pitchford’s three Robert Johnson numbers are adeptly performed, but solo performances by Henry Townsend (sounding like Walter Davis on the superb All My Money’s Gone on piano), and Jessie Mae Hemphill (a very strong Train, Train) stand out. Also included is a solo harmonica feature by Phil Wiggins, and several religious performances from the Moving Star Hall Singers. There were a number of strongly delivered performances not included, ostensively because of technical problems attributable to the hot, humid weather that made keeping in tune a real adventure. Barry Lee Pearson and Bernice Reagon places the performances in their social and historic context. While not indispensable, this makes available a variety of performances and performers not otherwise likely to be found on a major label, and has value beyond that of a festival souvenir.

Charles Brown's Legend lives on

I had the pleasure to see Charles Brown a number of times after first seeing him at the New York club Tramps in the Summer of 1982 I believe. Charles Brown was a remarkable pianist and a major influence on many performers. The very first album by him I had the pleasure to own was Legend on ABC-Bluesway that came out in 1969 or 1970. I have had it several times on vinyl as this session with the late Earl Hooker as well as Mel Brown on guitar was an absoulute delight. It was reissued on CD in 1993 or 1994 and here is the review I did for Jazz & Blues Report at the time of reissue. Unfortunately this is out of print and may only be obtained at a premium.

MCA has reissued Charles Brown’s Bluesway album, Legend, that featured the late Earl Hooker, along with Mel Brown on guitar, and Red Holloway on tenor saxophone, on their One Way Out label. One is treated to somewhat lengthy, relaxed jams on such Brown classics as Drifting Blues and Merry Christmas Baby, both with incredibly tasty guitar from Earl Hooker, warm vocal duets with Dottie Ivory on I Want to Go Home, and All Is Forgiven (which Brown claimed in the notes to have written for this session), a high-spirited instrumental The Combination, and a couple of other songs that Brown and group really hit it off with. While these are extended performances, nowhere does one feel that the performances are too long. Its a warm, friendly session with Charles trying to bring back those good old days of Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole, B.B. King, Big Joe Turner, and last but not least, Charles Brown, near the end of I Want to Go Home. This album should have revived Brown’s career in the early seventies. Unfortunately it didn’t, but with his well deserved success of recent years, it certainly is nice to have it available again. Recommended.

Sonny Rollins Honored With Polar Award

Having received the new album, Sonny Please, Sonny Rollins latest recording in the mail today, I was even more delighted to receive by email the latest Newk's Time - The Sonny Rollins Newsletter and find out that he and composer Steve Reich were honored with Polar Awards, which were announced Thursday at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm. The Polar Awards are the equivalent of Nobel prizes for Music. The two Americans will receive the one million kronor prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm on May 21.

The academy said it tapped Rollins, 76, for raising "the accompanied solo to the highest artistic level -- all characterized by a distinctive and powerful sound, irresistible swing and an individual sense of humor."

On February 1st, a reception and press event will be given by the Consul General of Sweden in New York to honor the winners of the Polar Music Prize Award for 2007.

The website for the Polar Music Awards from which I downloaded the picture of Sonny and which has a full list of winners of this award.

Sonny Rollins website has more information and news on the Saxophone Colossus.

Congratulations Sonny. You are so deserving of this honor. You continue to astonish with your music.

Some Love from another Blues King

Alabama bluesman, Willie King, has developed a following with his strong juke joint blues that mixes his own take on classic delta and Chicago blues with a topical-protest slant to some of his own material. His music might loosely described as Howlin’ Wolf mixed with Mississippi Fred McDowell with some R.L. Burnside seasoning for a driving, almost hypnotic mix. His most recent Freedom Creek release, One Love, certainly will satisfy his fans as he launches into Sweet Potato Man (“I’m your sweet potato man, I want to work for you.”) with its relentless groove, followed by I Like It Like That, opening with stinging King guitar and a funk groove while guitarist Debbie Bond and Wllie Lee Halbert second his vocal lines in a manner similar to that heard in to some zydeco acts. Ride Sally Side is another North Hills rocker as he sings about having getting together in the old days and just pitching down a wonderful time, while Holing (sic) the Line, with some emphatic harp and sax, sports a lyric about other people trying to wreck one’s life but don’t worry as long as you hold the line. Writing in the Sky (Katrina), a slow blues with a John Lee Hooker feel, has King reflecting on the horrible hurricane that wreaked havoc through the Gulf Coast (“Did you see the handwriting in the sky all the way from Africa.”), while the one cover, of Howlin’ Wolf’s Spoonful, benefits from the slowed tempo with King one of the few vocalists able to successfully to evoke Wolf when singing. Mamaluchi mixes the Hideaway melody with a tinge of Jimmy Reed for an easy going rocker as King sings about going to get his baby. The title track is an upbeat lyric about how we are all interconnected despite what seems to make us seem different and that brings us hope for better. There is nothing fancy about the music here, and its similar to a lot of other ‘primitive-sounding’ juke blues, but Willie King places his own stamp on simple, driving music and has a focus in his performances that provide the performances with more personality than similar efforts by others. Its music for listening, but more importantly its music to dance and get one’s groove on with.

Excellent new Holmes Brothers CD

The Holmes Brothers new Alligator album, State of Grace, is another solid disc by brothers Wendell and Sherman Holmes and drummer Popsy Dixon. Listening to this disc, like most of their recordings, one gets a mix of soulful R&B, gospel, country and blues which certainly transcends simple labeling of the trio as a blues group, a term that becomes increasingly meaningless but also one that does disservice to them. There are some choice originals like Sherman Holmes wonderful country soul ballad, Close the Door, and remakes of pop classics such as Nick Lowe’s (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding. Wendell Holmes handles the lazy southern funk of Gasoline Drawers. Rosanne Cash joins Wendell on a lovely rendition of Hank Williams’ I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You, with some lovely mandolin from Larry Campbell behind the very heartful vocals. Glenn Patscha adds accordion and Campbell is on fiddle to add some cajun flavor to a lively rendition of John Fogerty’s Bad Moon Rising, while Popsy Dixon handles the vocal on Glenn Patscha’s Three Gray Walls, a terrific song that sounds like a classic R&B song from the pre-Beatles period. Joan Osborne takes the vocal joined by the Brothers on Those Memories of You, another soulful reworking of a country song, while Levon Helm joins in for I’ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages. Other delights include Sherman’s interpretation of he soulful-folk of Lyle Lovett’s If I Had a Boat, Wendell’s handling of George Jones’ Ain’t It Funny What a Fool Will Do, and his own Standing in the Need of Love, a strong blues original with a strong guitar solo from him as well, and the closing rendition of Lyle Lovett’s God Will where Popsy is at the forefront. The album displays the attention to good songs, solid musicianship where there is a recognition that understatement is often a virtue and marvelous singing that has been the hallmark of The Holmes Brothers recordings for the past few decades. This terrific disc is easily recommended even if difficult to classify as fitting within any particular genre.

John Németh's Magic Touch

John Németh

One of the real pleasures I have is hearing a new voice that just blows me away being rooted deep in the blues tradition, yet singing and playing with an authority that would have been at home on a blues recording 40 years ago. Born in Idaho, John Németh has been growing a body of followers including guitarist Junior Watson and Steady Rollin’ Bob Margolin and after a couple of CDs has signed with Blind Pig and has a new CD, Magic Touch, that is a stunning release. He is a wonderful singer that to this listener suggests Junior Parker mixed with Bobby Radcliffe (with a hint of Joe Louis Walker) and an equally superb harp player. This CD is produced by Anson Funderburgh (who plays on 1 track) with Németh backed by a terrific band that includes great Junior Watson on guitar and Kaz Kazanoff and the Texas Horns. Németh blasts off with a strong reworking of Junior Wells’ Blues Hit Big Town (great harp along with the vocal) before followed by the funky originals Blue Broadway and the title track, both sporting strong crying vocals and terrific playing from Watson (who gets into a rock and roll vein on the title track). Willie Dixon’s Sit and Cry the Blues, was one of Buddy Guy’s earliest recordings and the version here with Watson’s evocation of Ike Turner’s trebly playing on Guy’s original as Németh’s convincingly the lyrics in his natural soulful style. She Did Not Show sports some harp in a Rice Miller vein on a blues set to the Sittin’ on Top of the World/ Some Cold Rainy Day melody, while Up to No Good evokes Sam Cooke’s Bring It On Home, with more exquisite harp playing. Come On, a polka-blues (yes you read that correctly) closes this album on a fresh, delightful note. Blind Pig in their publicity for this suggests that Magic Touch “is destined to be one of the most remarked upon releases of 2007.” Well it is January as I write this, but they are likely right, as this is simply terrific and hopefully Németh will do some touring in support of this.

A few links on a bluesy note

On the post-war blues list there was a post about so videos of artists associated with the Music Makers Relief Foundation as well as a link to a very good review of the CD-DVD Various Artists - Drink House To Church House: Songs & Stories From The Roots Of America Vol. I & II. The review by Richard Marcus is well worth sharing.

I have the blog Jazz & Blues Music Reviews on My yahoo page. Tim sometimes writes brief reviews but is always interesting with links to articles from newspapers or magazine as well as podcasts. he himself puts together a very fascinating podcast of jazz and blues every so often.

One of the podcasts that I have been turned on to by Tim is illasounds, which has a number of wonderful, thematic podcasts of great jazz recordings. If you go to the page and down the list, you will even see a terrific one of classic acoustic pre-war blues. If you want to sample the music of Thelonious Monk, or early free jazz or some contemporary salsa, these podcasts are terrific.

Honeyboy Edwards- A Favorite Album By Him

While I have enjoyed the music of David 'Honeyboy' Edwards over the years, I have regarded him not quite of the level of his contemporaries from the Delta such as Big Joe Williams, who was his early mentor. Still he has one CD that stands out among his various ones, Earwig's Delta Bluesman which still stands out today. His is a 1992 review from Jazz & Blues Report.

Earwig Records (along with British Indigo Records) has just issued Delta Bluesman, a retrospective of Honeyboy Edwards' career which includes his Library of Congress recordings, one recording with Floyd Jones and Kansas City Red from the Old Friends session, and several recent recordings, some solo and some with band including Carey Bell, and Sunnyland Slim and others, where he recreates his 1951 Who May Your Regular Be, performs the previously unrecorded riverboat blues Katie Allen, and John Lee Williamson’s Eyes Full of Tears. Also interspersed are excepts from recent interviews of Honeyboy including his recollection of Alan Lomax coming to record him for the Library of Congress, as well as recollections of such seminal blues performers as Peetie Wheatsraw and Tommy McClennan. One can hear echoes of Robert Johnson in Water Coast Blues and Charlie Patton in a Just a Spoonful, and the short version of Stagolee isn’t far removed from John Hurt except Honeyboy’s attack is far more percussive. But the dominant influence on Honeyboy’s music is Big Joe Williams whose approach is echoed in Honeyboy’s personal blues interpretations. Wind Howlin’ Blues is a nice song on which Honeyboy adds some simple rack harmonica. If Honeyboy had never recorded or been located, the Library of Congress recordings would have been recognized as the work of a significant purveyor of the Delta blues. Honeyboy did make several recordings for small commercial labels, and after being found in Chicago by Pete Welding has recorded several times that certainly have been enjoyable, although generally not of the level of his Library of Congress recordings. Of the more recent recordings, two band cuts stand out, Kate Allen and Decoration Day, as Honeyboy forcefully sings with Carey Bell adding some strong harp fills and Sunnyland Slim contributing a rocking underpinning. Solo blues like Black Cat and Rocks in My Pillow are nicely rendered. This release succeeds in its intentions, and is a highly recommended collection for fans of down home blues.

The Blues is Alright Tour Is Coming

Just a heads up about a terrific tour of many of the leading acts on the Southern Blues Tour that will be making stops in a number of major cities. Acts include Roy C, Bobby Bland, J Blackfoot, Bobby Rush, Clarence Carter, Floyd Taylor and the Johnnie Taylor Revue, Latimore, Marvin Sease, Theodis Ealey, Sir Charles Jones, Mel Waiters and Shirley Brown.

Having seen the majority of acts, it looks like an incredible evening of music although given th revue nature of the show, if everyone performs, no one except a couple acts will get to do more than a few numbers. I should point out that there are some who do not consider this blues (see The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings whose editors presumably like their blues bleached), but to many of us, especially the community out of which the blues arose, this is still the blues.

Here is the link: The Blues Is Alright Tour

The Good Doctor Cures the Boogie Disease

This is a review I did in 1992 of Dr. Ross for Jazz & Blues Report. Dr. Ross passed away in 1993 and I am fortunate to have seen the one-man band perform at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival several times in the late 1980s.

Isaiah “Dr.” Ross
Boogie Disease
Arhoolie

Now a resident of the Detroit area, Isaiah “Dr.” Ross developed from a fine delta blues artist in the tradition of Big Joe Williams and Robert Petway into a one-man band. One of the artists who recorded for Sam Phillips, his early Memphis recordings have been reissued on Boogie Disease. Listening to the exuberance of the alternates to Boogie Disease and Chicago Breakdown, one can detect not only the strong delta rhythmic style of a Big Joe Williams (as well as northern transplant John lee Hooker), but also more than a bit of the influence of John Lee Williamson, reflected in a variety of songs including Going Back South and Polly Put a Kettle On. Of considerable note are his strong interpretations of such delta themes as Going to the River (Derived perhaps from Blind Lemon Jefferson, but played in the delta style), Shake ‘Em Down and Mississippi Blues. The latter is a Catfish Blues variant better known as Cat’s Squirrel and the source of the recording by the rock group, Cream. In addition to his youthful influences of John Lee Williamson and Tommy McClennan, one can also appreciate the impact of Muddy waters, and John lee Hooker, particularly on the hypnotic rhythms of Industrial Avenue Boogie, a reworking of Hooker’s Boogie Chillum.This is an updated version of a vinyl reissue, and Steve La Vere has updated his and Bob Eagle’s original liner notes. Some of you have heard some of Dr. Ross’ Sun recordings and will have an idea of the exuberant boogie and barrelhouse blues to be found here. Others are in for a treat with respect to these superbly rendered performances.

Henry Townsend & The Real St. Louis Blues

Arcola Records is a small label out of Seattle that has been building a very interesting catalog of downhome blues focusing on previously unissued recordings by significant stylists in older blues traditions. One of the recent additions to the catalog is the late Henry Townsend’s The Real St. Louis Blues. Townsend, who when he died had probably the lengthiest career on record in blues history, first recording in 1929 and recording in the 21st Century. In the pre-World War 11 era played (and recorded) with many legends including James ‘Stump’ Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Henry Spaulding, Roosevelt Sykes, Walter Davis, Charlie Jordan, John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson and Big Joe Williams and his recording career extended from 1929 to the 21st Century and developed a distinctive style on both guitar and piano.
The recordings on this set derive from recordings that Arcola’s Bob West produced in August, 1979 at Henry’s home in St. Louis (and West playing second guitar on a couple tracks) and a Baldwin Piano Store in the city, and provide a pretty fair representation of Townsend as a bluesman displaying his rhythmic driving guitar and deep alley piano style matched with his doleful vocals. His style gives his rendition of Jesse Baby Face Thomas’ You’ll Never Find Another Man Like Me, titled here as Can’t You See (and credited to Henry) a bit more somber in its tone. His piano blues feature a steady bass and thundering right hand runs and complement his somber singing on Mercy, a take on a traditional blues theme; So Long, So Long, a somber goodbye song; Sad Story, a minor key blues, reminiscent of Walter Davis, that is a marvelous piece of blues storytelling as his woman says she is going away; and Let Her Go, a marvelous performance in the vein of St. James Infirmary as if Walter Davis sang it. Crying Won’t Make Me Stay (one of the songs on which West seconded Townsend) brings together the going down the big road blues theme with going and his woman’s crying won’t make him stay, which Townsend’s plaintive vocal delivers so convincingly. This is a marvelous collection of blues performances and absolutely recommended to fans of acoustic blues, although this reviewer recognizes that Townsend’s sober and thoughtful approach to the blues won’t be to everyone’s taste. Arcola should be available from better online retailers if one cannot locate this material in stores.

Here is a link to Henry's wikipedia entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Townsend_(musician)

Jay McShann's Hootie Blues

The passing of the legendary Jay McShann this past year was one of many substantial losses the music world suffered. McShann led one of the last great Kansas City Big Bands which was noted for its blues playing and the fact that Charlie Parker was a member until he emerged as one of the forces behind the Bebop revolution of the forties. In the forties and the fifties her recorded behind any number of blues singers including Crown Prince Waterford and Jimmy Witherspoon (Mosaic is reissuing their classic RCA album) and then in the late sixties and early seventies recorded in the US and abroad for a variety of labels which showed him to be one of the great piano masters of blues and swinging jazz. He continued to perform and tour worldwide over the past thirty five years and in the past several years the Canadian Stony Plain label put out several very fine releases in the company of Duke Robillard.

Perhaps the last McShann CD to be issued in his lifetime, the 2006 Stony Plain disc, "Hootie Blues," was recorded in 2001 at Toronto’s Montreal Bistro, with the pianist-vocalist was accompanied by saxophonist Jim Galloway (whom McShann had played with a number of times over the past few decades), Galloway’s wife Rosemary on bass and Don Vickery on drums. This disc is a delightful set of chestnuts from McShann’s pen like 'Confessin The Blues,' 'My Chile' and the title track, along with a strong blues that I believe Witherspoon recorded, 'When The Lights Go Out,' as well as standards as '‘Deed I Do' and 'All of Me.' McShann still sounded fine at 85 when this performance occurred, especially in his piano playing, and the backing band is right with him. Galloway is very attractive player working within the swing tradition. McShann was modest about his singing, but his slightly nasal delivery, reminiscent of his one-time vocalist, Walter Brown, had a definite appeal, although his delivery perhaps shows a tinge of the years and he still sang and played the blues at a level most could only aspire too. In addition to some marvelous performances, there is an extended interview between Stony Plain’s Holger Peterson and McShann recorded in 2003 here he remembers his formative days and more, which is placed at the discs end so one can listen to at one’s leisure. A very enjoyable release which may not be among his finest recordings, but certainly has little to fault.