Steady Bob Margolin's All Star Chicago Blues Jam

Steady Rollin’ Bob Margolin continues to play in the style of blues he played with Muddy Waters two decades after that legend’s death. He has added to his growing discography with a new Telarc disc , Bob Margolin’s All Star Blues Jam. The disc brings together Carey Bell, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Willie Smith and Jimmy Lane for renditions of mostly classic blues tunes. It was recorded mostly at the Blues Heaven Studio in Salina, Kansas, and captures the classic Chicago blues sound of Waters and others with Margolin sharing the vocals with Waters band veterans Perkins, Bell, and Willie Smith, and bassist Mookie Brill.


Smith, longtime drummer with Muddy does a first-rate job on Waters’ Country Boy and plays harmonica on the reworking of Juke. Pinetop’s steady piano helps anchor much of this disc along with Brill on bass and Smith on drums. Margolin tackles Johnny Shines’ Brutal Hearted Woman, which he has rearranged the number into a Waters’ styled Chicago blues, but vocally does not come close to Shines’ vocal on the original. Bell is solid throughout whether playing fat chromatic harp behind Smith’s vocal on Always on My Mind, or singing, with his gruff delivery, on the shuffle One Day You’ll Gonna Get Lucky.

Pinetop ably does Robert Nighthawk’s Sweet Black Angel. A live recording of Mean Old Chicago, a song Margolin wrote in memory of Jimmy Rogers, includes some nice guitar from Rogers son Jimmy Lane. Sumlin supports Margolin on Jimmy Rogers’ Last Time and the blues staple Goin’ Down Slow. The album closes with an instrumental rendition of the gospel standard Just a Little Walk With You that Pinetop takes the lead on a simply delivered rendition.


There is a consistency in the performances here. If few are exceptional, the level is still strong which makes for enjoyable listening that will not disappoint fans of classic Chicago blues.

This review originally appeared in the June 2003 DC Blues Calendar and the July-August 2003 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 263). I have made minor stylistic changes. I likely received a review copy from the record label or a publicist for the label.

Guitarist Small's Acoustic "Black, White & Blues"

Solo performer Mark T. Small had a background playing in bluegrass bands which perhaps is the source of his blazingly-fast flat-picking style. This New England Native though started gravitating to the blues, leading a band The Lonesome Strangers. Around 2000, he began to pursue a solo career, stating “I started developing the solo show because I love the freedom associated with playing alone.” He has just issued a solo recording, his new CD, “Blacks, Whites & the Blues,” on Lead Foot Music. It consists of 14 songs, many classic blues but a few from others sources.

It is an interesting and enjoyable recording with a gruffly delivered, driving solo rendition of Muddy Waters’ Trouble No More. His original Boogie Woogie Country Man, displays flat-picking chops on a rockabilly flavored performance. Emphatic guitar and a slightly overstated vocal characterize his rendition of Little Red Rooster. There is a nice solo on this. Hesitation Blues is a likable traditional blues with nice picking and slide on his National guitar. He picks up a telecaster for an energetic rendition of John Lee Hooker’s Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, while he is back to the National for Fred McDowell’s “61 Highway.”

Small’s flat-picking skills are displayed on the traditional Old Gray Mare, which is played in Norman Blake’s style. Six White Horses also has a nice country tinge with a strutting rhythm. A solo rendition of The Thrill Is Gone, has inventive guitar riffs and solos intertwined with Small’s coarse singing. A nice rendition of Fred McDowell’s A Few More Lines follows where Small’s playing emulates the late Mississippi legend. Catfish Blues has fresh guitar embellishments on the familiar Delta blues, although Small’s vocal could have been a bit looser. It is followed by a unremarkable Sweet Home Chicago, a song where he adds little to the multiple previous recordings of this.

The relaxed A Georgia Camp Meeting stands in contrast to most of the other performances and is followed by a nice ragtime instrumental, Scott Joplin’s Solace, which Small notes is the only time Joplin employed the tango rhythm. The thoughtful, genial playing provides a delightful close to this recording. While Small’s vocals might not match his imaginative and interesting guitar, he has produced an imperfect gem in Blacks, Whites & the Blues. It should appeal to fans of acoustic blues and blues-roots music.


A publicist for this release supplied me with a review copy.

That Good Earl King Rhythm and Blues

Back three decades ago, Samuel Charters produced a series of blues lps for the Swedish Sonet label, The Legacy of the Blues, along with some other blues recordings. Charters is known as both a blues author (The Country Blues, The Poetry of the Blues, Bluesmen) as well as a producer of blues recordings, including the classic Chicago, The Blues Today! and albums by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy to name a few of the artists he recorded. Universal Music, through its Verve imprint has just issued seven of the seven Sonet lps for reissue in a series, The Sonet Blues Story. Six of these are from The Legacy of the Blues series. This is the seventh in a series of posts of my reviews from this series that originally appeared in the June 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 283).


It should be noted that on these Sonet reissues, the playing time is somewhat short. Even those with extra tracks (such as the one reviewed below) do not exceed 45 minutes. Still there is some good to exceptional music to be heard on these. This CD may be out-of-print but is available from various sellers and is available as mp3 files. I received my review copy from the publication.

The one release of the seven that was not part of The Legacy of the Blues series is the one by Earl King, that reissues the Sonet lp That Good Old/New New Orleans Rock and Roll. Charters got a tight band that included Dave Lastie and Clarence Ford on saxes, Maurice Richard on piano and the French Brothers, Bob and George on bass and drums respectively for King to reprise sole of his classics like Trick Bag, Mama and Papa and Come On Let the Good Times Roll, along with Let’s Make a Better World, that Dr. John had recorded, and Do Re Mi, which Lee Dorsey had recorded.


King always had a way of putting songs together with neat lyrical hooks but neither his soulful vocals or guitar playing were ever in the listener’s face, and the performances could show a certain quirkiness. Listening to less familiar songs like Baby Sittin’ or The Panic's On, one’s almost tempted to term the music quirky, but really there is a craftsmanship at work here in how the songs are put together and the restrained performances that is very engaging. Certainly this reissue is most welcome.

Nica's Dream Is Fascinating Story of the Jazz Baroness

Nica’s Dream: The Life and Legend of the Jazz Baroness
David Kastin
New York: WWNorton

Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter played an intriguing, even crucial role, in New York City’s jazz scene in the fifties through the eighties. A member of the Rothschild family, Nica, as she was known, was a patron to a number of the most significant jazz artists of the time including Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Barry Harris, Mary Lou Williams, and Thelonious Monk. She was, in the eyes of some, a controversial and scandalous figure as some of the tabloid sheets wrote about her and the death of Charlie Parker. David Kastin has attempted to separate fact from myth in providing her story, one he was able to cast from news accounts and interviews with many of the musicians who knew her as well as published interviews with her. Unfortunately limited assistance were provided by her children who have generally held to Rothschild family custom of not talking about family matters. Still Kastin weaves a fascinating portrait


Kastin provides a background in the history of the Rothschilds, including the immediate ancestors and siblings of Pannonica which include individuals who would be viewed as eccentric as she would. Her early life, including the somewhat sheltered life she had, her marriage and her experiences as part of the French Resistance in World War II are described as is her introduction to jazz while living in Mexico with her husband, who was a diplomat, when she heard excerpts of Duke Ellington’s “Black, Brown & Beige.” She had met Teddy Wilson in Europe and started making forays into New York City with Wilson, who in his Harlem apartment played Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight,” which would prove pivotal.


Estranged from her husband who tried to have a very controlling relationship, she moved to New York beginning a remarkable life over several decades where she befriended and hosted so many famous musicians at the Stanhope Hotel, and two other hotels . She outwore her welcome in each because of her relationship with musicians coming in at all hours. Eventually, she had a home in New Jersey, overlooking Manhattan known as the Cathouse because of the countless felines that lived there along with musicians who would come by at all hours (like they had when she was at a hotel). Kastin weaves in a history of big band jazz, bebop along with other progressive artist groups like the beats and painters like Jackson Pollack.


She was able to develop a relationship with musicians of totally different circumstances who learned that she appreciated them as artists and did not regard them as exotics. She also appreciated their music and they learned to value her opinions as well, advice and patronage. Charlie Parker took ill, but not wanting to go to a hospital, she had her personal doctor look after him. He died watching television at her Stanhope hotel suite leading to scandal in the papers (the white rich woman and black jazz artist) and leading her husband to finally file for divorce, although the scandal was more of ‘no good deed going unpunished.’


Other jazz greats would have lengthy associations with Nica, but none more importantly than Thelonious Monk. There relationship was of strong, close, platonic friends and Monk’s wife Nellie also became a good friend. A good portion of this book is the story of Nica and Monk’s relationship, and how she fostered and supported his music and person. The affection Monk had for her is reflected in the two compositions he wrote for her, “Pannonica” and “Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lue-are.” The latter tune refers to the Hotel Bolivar, where she moved after the Stanhope management made it clear she was no longer welcome them. Monk was not alone in celebrating Nica. Sonny Clark, Kenny Dorham, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Drew, Gigi Gryce, Freddie Redd, Barry Harris, and Horace Silver also wrote memorable compositions in her honor.


The lengthy discussion of Monk and Nica complements that in Robert Kelley’s superb biography, “Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of An American Original.” Kelley in fact provides a blurb praising this book as “a stunning cultural biography of New York City and a riveting portrait of one the most fascinating figures of the twentieth century.” Kelley’s succinct comments summarize my feelings about this volume on a lady who made substantial contributions to the jazz scene of the fifties through eighties without playing a note. Her story will captivate any fan of this music as it did me.


I purchased this book.

Snooks Eaglin - Crescent City Rhythm and Blues Troubador

Back three decades ago, Samuel Charters produced a series of blues lps for the Swedish Sonet label, The Legacy of the Blues, along with some other blues recordings. Charters is known as both a blues author (The Country Blues, The Poetry of the Blues, Bluesmen) as well as a producer of blues recordings, including the classic Chicago, The Blues Today! and albums by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy to name a few of the artists he recorded. Universal Music, through its Verve imprint has just issued seven of the seven Sonet lps for reissue in a series, The Sonet Blues Story. Six of these are from The Legacy of the Blues series. This is the sixth in a series of posts of my reviews from this series, although my statement about Snooks being the only living performer in the series is no longer true. These reviews that originally appeared in the June 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 283)


It should be noted that on these Sonet reissues, the playing time is somewhat short. Even those with extra tracks (such as the one reviewed below) do not exceed 45 minutes. Still there is some good to exceptional music to be heard on these. This CD may be out-of-print but is available from various sellers and is available as mp3 files. I received my review copy from the publication.


Snooks Eaglin, the remarkable New Orleans singer-guitarist, is the only performer still living in this series. Unfortunately Samuel Charters recorded Eaglin as a solo artist rather than in a band context, helping perpetuate the myth of him being a street singer-songster. Not to say that this disc is not full of engaging performances including takes on songs from Sam Cooke (Good News), Little Richard (Lucille), John Lee Hooker (Boogie Children taken at a slower tempo and opening with Eaglin’s own spontaneous rap), Jimmy Rogers (That’s All Right mistitled here as Who’s Loving You Tonight and credited to Eaglin), and Lonnie Johnson (Tomorrow Night), as well as a stunning guitar adaptation of Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie and a terrific Funky Malaguena. Previously unissued bonus tracks include Shake a Hand and Shake Rattle and Roll.


Listening to these performance one is astonished by the fertility of Eaglin’s imagination but also one wishes that he had been plugged in, but one would have to wait for Rounder and Black Top to capture the side of Snooks that still dazzles us today. This is not to dismiss the many pleasures here, but Snooks could be electrifying, not simply astonishing.

Chet Baker's Musical Candy

Companion to the DVD of Zoot Sims "In a Sentimental Mood," MVD Visual has released in the US the Gazell Records DVD of Chet Baker, "Candy." Like the Sims video it is an intimate trio recording that finds the trumpeter in the library of Sonet Records in Lidingo, Sweden. Sims is backed ,by pianist Michel Graillier and bassist Jean Louis Raissinfosse with one duet with bassist Red Mitchell. Mitchell, was resident in Stockholm at the time, also conducts a brief interview with him.


Performances are introduced by the song-titles and the CD opens with Baker taking the vocal on Candy, before his trumpet solo. While by the time this was recorded, Baker's James Dean-like looks had a weathered look, certainly the visual appeal of him is still apparent as is the genial melodicism of his approach. Bassist Raissenfosse sets the tone on his 5-string electric upright bass providing a bass line to anchor the performance of Love For Sale, with more lyrical playing from Baker and some nice piano by Graillier. It's followed by a lively version of Bud Powell's Tempus Fugue-It, and the bluesy late-night feel of Sad Walk.


The trio portion concludes with a nice Red's Blues with some nice playing by all, Miles Davis's Nardis, with a slight exotic flavor and the standard Bye Bye Blackbird, which of course many know from Miles' classic recording. Baker's playing is suggestive of Miles and like Miles he focused on painting a mood rather than exhibit fleet technical facility, and his vocals similarly inhabited a narrow range but had such an expressive quality to them. One can't overlook pianist Graillier who turns in a nice blues solo on Red's Blues, or Raissinfosse's firm playing throughout.


Mitchell and Baker are seen at a piano when Mitchell mentions that he was able to work out on piano some chords in playing My Romance, and Baker stating it was among the first songs he recorded before the two of them play a duet of it with Mitchell playing piano. It is a fine way to end this engaging DVD.

I received a review copy from MVD Video.

Juke Boy Bonner's One-Man Band Blues

Back three decades ago, Samuel Charters produced a series of blues lps for the Swedish Sonet label, The Legacy of the Blues, along with some other blues recordings. Charters is known as both a blues author (The Country Blues, The Poetry of the Blues, Bluesmen) as well as a producer of blues recordings, including the classic Chicago, The Blues Today! and albums by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy to name a few of the artists he recorded. Universal Music, through its Verve imprint has just issued seven of the seven Sonet lps for reissue in a series, The Sonet Blues Story. Six of these are from The Legacy of the Blues series. This is the fifth in a series of posts of my reviews from this series that originally appeared in the June 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 283).


It should be noted that on these Sonet reissues, the playing time is somewhat short. Still there is some good to exceptional music to be heard on these. This CD may be out-of-print but is available from various sellers and is available as mp3 files. I received my review copy from the publication.


Weldon “Juke Boy” Bonner was a Houston based one-and band who was a notable blues poet as well as a performer but who never was able to get out of his hard life. His recordings for Arhoolie demonstrate his approach a one-man band with his effective harp and guitar playing as well as his songs which often dealt with topical themes.


Recorded by Arhoolie’s Chris Strachwitz, the performances on Bonner’s Blues Story volume are fine ones opening with I’m a Bluesman, singing about his hard life (“My father passed when I was two.”) with an easy groove followed by Problems All Around (I can’t get ahead from being held down) taken at a slow tempo. Besides his strong lyrics, Bonner provides strong boogie-laced guitar playing and tough rack harp playing that made him a fascinating purveyor of the one-man blues band idiom. Like his other releases, this is a gem that one should be delighted is widely available now.

Duke Robillard's "Low Down and Torn Up"

Duke Robillard's new Stony Plain CD, Low Down and Torn Up, presents the veteran singer and guitarist on a program of 14 interpretations of older jump blues and Chicago blues. It was recorded live with his regular band of Bruce Bears on piano, Brad Hallen on bass, Mark Teixeira on drums (and one vocal) with Sax Gordon playing tenor and baritone sax. Mark McCabe replaces Bears on 7 songs. Songs derive from recordings by Guitar Slim, Tampa Red, Sugar Boy Crawford, Pee Wee Crayton, Elmore James, Eddie Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy McCracklin, and Bobby 'Blues' Merrill. Most of these songs will be unfamiliar. Elmore James' Twelve Year Old Boy and Tampa Red's Let Me Play With Your Poodle, are perhaps the best known songs heard here.


The strengths of this record are the strong ensemble playing along with Sax Gordon's playing. On Eddie Taylor's Trainfare Home, Gordon sounds like a mix of J.T. Brown's nanny goat tone and Eddie Shaw's raspy overblowing attack. Robillard's vocals sound a bit muffled on this session especially on the opening interpretation of Guitar Slim's Quicksand. Tampa Red's Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, sounds better, with Matt McCabe on piano evoking Little Johnnie Jones as drummer Teixeira suggests Judge Riley who played on many late 40's Bluebird Record sessions. Let Me Play With Your Poodle also sports some fine piano with a capable vocal although, in my opinion, it is not as strong as the renditions of this by Lightnin' Hopkins, Marcia Ball and Chick Willis.


Teixeira handles the vocal on a frantic rendition of Sugar Boy Crawford's Overboard, with Gordon taking a nice tenor sax solo. Blues After Hour is a nice low-key remake of the Pee Wee Crayton instrumental classic that showcases how tasteful Duke can be, while the rendition of Crayton's recording, Do Unto Others, is a rocker with a Crescent City groove and blistering guitar. Robillard's cover of John Lee Hooker's Want Ad Blues is a boogie that conjures up Hooker's 50's Vee-Jay sides. Its interesting to hear a cover of Tool Bag Boogie, one of Elmore James instrumentals where he did not play slide. Gordon rips off some hot sax while Duke plays solidly in a T-Bone Walker-ish vein.


Covers of Jimmy McCracklin, Elmore and Sugar Boy Crawford strike me as more successful instrumentally as Duke's vocals here generally strike this listener as a bit mannered, although I would suspect some of you would disagree. There is much I like about this, but I can only recommend Low Down and Torn Up with reservations. 

My review copy was provided by a publicist for this release.

Big Joe Williams Country Blues Mastery

Back three decades ago, Samuel Charters produced a series of blues lps for the Swedish Sonet label, The Legacy of the Blues, along with some other blues recordings. Charters is known as both a blues author (The Country Blues, The Poetry of the Blues, Bluesmen) as well as a producer of blues recordings, including the classic Chicago, The Blues Today! and albums by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy to name a few of the artists he recorded. Universal Music, through its Verve imprint has just issued seven of the seven Sonet lps for reissue in a series, The Sonet Blues Story. Six of these are from The Legacy of the Blues series. This is the fourth in a series of posts of my reviews from this series that originally appeared in the June 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 283).


It should be noted that on these Sonet reissues, the playing time is somewhat short. Even those with extra tracks (such as the one reviewed below) do not exceed 45 minutes. Still there is some good to exceptional music to be heard on these. This CD is shown as still available and is available as mp3 files. I received my review copy from the publication.

Big Joe Williams was another great Mississippi bluesman who is best known for Baby Please Don’t Go. A Delta musician who as much as anyone led the life of the traveling bluesman, Williams lived in St. Louis for a period where after Peetie Wheatstraw’s death started playing Wheatsraw’s trademark 9-string guitar. A repertoire that ranged from originals to songs from Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson and Tommy Johnson, Williams played a strong rhythmic style and also sang in a highly exclamatory fashion. This volume, which includes five previously unissued recordings, was a typically fine session by an artist who rarely made a poor recording. Songs include Patton’s Hang it on the Wall, Big Fat Mama and Black Gal You Sure Been Looking Warm. This is another artist who belongs in any blues collection.

Frank Driggs 1930-2011

On September 18, 2011, the New York Times published an obituary of country singer Wilma Lee Cooper. Accompanying that obituary was a picture of her with her late husband Stoney, with a credit to "Frank Driggs Collection." Ironically Driggs himself passed away a couple days later. As I type this on September 25, all I have seen about the late jazz historian, scholar and archivist has been a somewhat brief AP obituary noting his remarkable collection of jazz, blues and other American music photographs and memorabilia, nothing the book taken from his collection Black Beauty, White Heat: A Pictorial History of Classic Jazz, 1920-1950, and that he won a Grammy for producing the reissue of Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings.

The Wikipedia entry for Driggs and the obituaries note that he became enamored with jazz and swing listening to radio broadcasts in the late 1930s. He graduated Princeton in 1952 and then joined Marshall Stearns at the Rutgers University based Institute of Jazz Studies where he began his documentation of jazz. Later John Hammond recruited him to Columbia Records where he produced a number of important reissues of jazz and blues including the highly influential King of the Delta Blues Singers, the first album compilation of Robert Johnson's recordings and A Study in Frustration, the important box set devoted to the great Big Band leader, arranger, and composer, Fletcher Henderson. He would also produce reissues of Duke Ellington (which according to jazz historian Ashley Kahn was the inspiration for Steely Dan's recording of East St. Louis Toodle-Oo), Billy Holiday and many others and in the 1970s revived the Bluebird label for Victor to reissue their many classic blues, jazz and other music.

His archive of photos, lyric sheets, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia grew to approximately 100,000 items and credits to the Frank Driggs collection can be found in numerous books on jazz, blues and other American musical idioms. On his blog, jazz journalist Chuck Ramsey noted his use of several photos from Driggs' collection in his biography of Paul Desmond. The Driggs collection was the single largest source of such material used for the Ken Burns PBS series on Jazz.

Black Beauty, White Heat is a simply marvelous sampling from his collection. In addition to that volume, he also co-authored with Chuck Haddix, Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop--A History, is the currently definitive study of Kansas City jazz that was so important in the development of jazz and from which Count Basie, Hot Lips Page, Lester Young, Mary Lou Williams, Charlie Parker, and Jay McShann emerged. While Black Beauty, White Heat, is today an out-of-print classic, Kansas City Jazz is still in print. These books, along the recordings he produced and his collection of music memorabilia leave an impressive legacy.


For more on Frank Driggs and the archive, see Jazz Man from the September 2005 issue of Smithsonian Magazine and "… And All That Jazz Memorabilia" from the March 1, 2005 New York Times. And here is the New York Times obituary.

New Ray Charles Video Coming Out

Word has come out about the upcoming release of of video of Ray Charles live in performance from France in 1961 with his legendary band that included Hank Crawford, Fathead Newman and the original Raeletts. I have the fabulous Ray Charles in Brazil video with the Big Band from a couple years later. Anyway this preview should be of interest to many. 105 minutes of pure musical genius.

Bukka White's Classic Rediscovery Blues

Back three decades ago, Samuel Charters produced a series of blues lps for the Swedish Sonet label, The Legacy of the Blues, along with some other blues recordings. Charters is known as both a blues author (The Country Blues, The Poetry of the Blues, Bluesmen) as well as a producer of blues recordings, including the classic Chicago, The Blues Today! and albums by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy to name a few of the artists he recorded. Universal Music, through its Verve imprint has just issued seven of the seven Sonet lps for reissue in a series, The Sonet Blues Story. Six of these are from The Legacy of the Blues series. This is the third in a series of posts of my reviews from this series that originally appeared in the June 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 283).

Some of the albums in The Legacy of the Blues were from other producers. In fact, the volume by Bukka White reissues the Takoma LP that captured the 1963 Memphis session that Ed Denson and John Fahey taped after White had been located. White was one of the great Delta singers who first recorded in the 1930s. He had seen Charlie Patton and was influenced by this pioneering artist. White played a driving slide style that complimented his rough, shouted vocals. One of the blues most imaginative lyricists, he could weave a lyric story out of the sky as he would do for Arhoolie.


The recordings, many remakes of tunes he waxed for Columbia, are strong, focused performances whether the reworking of Aberdeen, Mississippi Blues, the train blues, New Orleans Streamline and The Atlanta Special, where his playing echoed the train traveling through the countryside, the gospel message of I Am the Heavenly Way or the country boogie Shake ‘Em on Down, these performances remain as vital as when he recorded them over forty years ago. If you have the Takoma album, you do not need this. Otherwise this is one of the best Delta blues recordings of the past half-century.

It should be noted that on these Sonet reissues, the playing time is somewhat short. Even those with extra tracks do not exceed 45 minutes. Still there is some good to exceptional music to be heard on these. This CD may be out-of-print but is available from various sellers and is available as mp3 files. I received my review copy from the publication.

Sugar Ray & The Bluetones Hit All The Right Notes

Severn has just issued the latest from Sugar Ray & the Bluetones, Evening. The latest from the veteran New England band featuring the vocals and harmonica of Ray Norcia, the piano of Anthony Geraci,and the guitar of Monster Mike Welch tackles a typical range of Chicago and modern urban blues which are played in a traditionally rooted, but fresh approach. Michael 'Mudcat' Ward's bass and Neil Gouvin's drums fill out the solid rhythm section for the Blue Tones,

I have been a fan of Norcia since when I saw him in 1978 backing J.B. Hutto in New York City (when Ronnie Earl was still with him), and since enjoyed his stint with Roomful of Blues in addition to his strong body of recordings, this new release brings together a few choice interpretations of less covered blues with idiomatic blues originals that thankfully show little, if any, blues-rock tinges.

This set kicks off with Johnny Young's I Having a Ball, with Norcia blasting out some harp and then belting out an ebullient vocal that captures the spirit of Young's original; as Geraci pounds away at the keys and Welch suggests the brilliance of the late Sammy Lawhorn with his accompanying riffs and single note runs. Welch contributed the slow blues Hard To Get Along, as Norcia sings about needing to get better than he is in a performance that evokes the classic Chess sound before they cover Otis Rush's Checker recording You Know My Love, which was based on Rush's Cobra recording My Love Will Never Die. It takes a fair amount of bravado to cover Rush, and Norcia able handles the vocal while Welch rips off strong guitar that recalls Rush.

The mood changes with the lazy groove of Dear John. Sugar Ray’s harp here shows a touch of Walter Horton's influence as Sugar Ray laments his women leaving for his brother John. Sugar Ray celebrates his woman on I Like What You Got, followed by the “talking blues vocal of Too Many Rules and Regulations, as Geraci channeling Otis Spann and Welch adds scintillating fills behind Sugar Ray's talking vocal. Dancing Bear (Little Indian Boy), opens with Norcia playing a native American Flute, before delivering a lyric singing about a proud Indian boy. It is followed by a nice rendition of the standard Evening, made famous by Jimmy Rushing and T-Bone Walker. Geraci is outstanding on piano and organ, while Welch rips off a hot solo.

The harp at the very beginning of I Came Down With The Blues suggests Slim Harpo before Sugar Ray eases into a more Sonny Boy Williamson II vein. I'm Certain That I'm Hurting, is a lively shuffle with Sugar Ray is hurting about his girl's flirting. The closing, slow instrumental XO, allows Sugar ray to demonstrate his fluid attack and strong tone. There are a couple songs on which the lyrics are not be as strong as the superb playing by the Bluetones, but they consistently nail the performances here. I previously mentioned the contributions of the soloists the contributions of bassist Ward and drummer Gouvin, who (with Geraci) provide the solid, swinging foundation here, merit commendation. Evening is another first-rate effort from Sugar Ray & the Bluetones.

This is scheduled for release on October 18, so consider this review a heads-up. A publicist provided me with my review copy.

Remembering Honeyboy, Wardell and Big Eyes

September has seen some blues and rhythm masters leave us with memories and plenty of reason to celebrate their legacy.

Honeyboy Edwards at Western Maryland Blues Festival in Hagerstown, MD.  Photo © Ron Weinstock

David' Honeyboy' Edwards passing was the last link to the pre-war generation of Delta bluesmen. Edwards literally grew up and played with all of the masters of the style including Charlie Patton, Tommy Johnson, Big Joe Williams, Tommy McLennan and most famously Robert Johnson. It was his association that led Pete Welding to Edwards after Welding had asked Big Joe of any bluesmen who knew the legendary Delta artist. Welding recorded Edwards as well as interviewed him which led to an extensive article back in the sixties.


Big Joe Williams took first Edwards out on the road as a youngster and arguably Williams highly rhythmic style is the most obvious influence on Edwards. Edwards became at times a very capable blues performer in the Delta style. Certainly the recordings Edwards made for Alan Lomax were fine examples of the Delta style. In the post-war era he had a few commercial recording sessions leading to one issued 78 and sessions for Chess and Sun that went unissued at the time, although issued later. Even most of Pete Welding's recordings of Honeyboy were unissued until the CD era, although Honeyboy was among the artists brought to play with Fleetwood Mac in the late sixties. 


Honeyboy may not have had the powerful guitar style or passionate, charismatic singing style that might have appealed to commercial record labels, but his warm personality and his personnel connections to the giants of the pre-war blues made him a popular performer for the past few decades was was capable of reaching across cultural and generational lines so well.

Wardell Quezergue and Jean Knight at the Ponderosa Stomp.  Photo © Ron Weinstock

Wardell Quezergue earned the moniker "The Creole Beethoven" as a reflection of his ability to arrange for large groups. This New Orleans native was famed as a composer, producer and arranger. He put together the charts for "Big Chief," the legendary Professor Longhair-Earl King Mardi Gras classic. As a producer he have us chart-topping soul classics like King Floyd's "Groove Me," and Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff." These two recordings were actually produced on the same day.


In more recent years his arranging touch was utilized for big band albums by Charles Brown and Gatemouth Brown; several acclaimed Dr. John albums (including the Grammy® Award Winning "Goin' Back to New Orleans"); and the wonderful "Deacon John's Jump Blues." Listening to the renditions on this CD and DVD, and comparing them with the original recordings, one appreciates how Quezergue translated small combo recordings into a big band language with considerable grace and elegance. He was spotlighted at a couple of Ponderosa Stomps in New Orleans as well as a special Stomp at Lincoln Center in new York City. When Dr. Ike asked Dr. John if he would consider doing some of his older songs on which he played guitar originally, he agreed when he learned Quezergue would be doing the arrangements and conducting. This gives a sense of the contributions of this marvelous person.

Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith at the 2010 Pocono Blues Festival, Lake Harmony PA. Photo © Ron Weinstock

Finally, we just received word that Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith passed away. Smith was honored with a Grammy® this past year alongside his friend and long-time band-mate, Pinetop Perkins, with whom he spent many years playing together with the legendary Muddy waters and later the Legendary Blues Band. Smith remained active until the stroke that recently felled him, and in more recent years was featured on harmonica and vocals and not simply handling the shuffle rhythms on drums. His presence with Muddy was in part responsible for the rock-solid swing of that band.


The quality of his music as a leader was also noteworthy. I said of his Hightone release Way Back, that it "showcases Smith’s harp as well as his amiable vocals on some choice covers as well as idiomatic originals." His son Kenny has become one of the best drummers in the blues today (and played on Way Back). What I will remember most about Willie was his infectious smile and the sparkle in his eyes. 


RIP Honeyboy, Wardell and Big Eyes.

A Good But Not Great Mighty Joe Young Reissue

Back three decades ago, Samuel Charters produced a series of blues lps for the Swedish Sonet label, The Legacy of the Blues, along with some other blues recordings. Charters is known as both a blues author (The Country Blues, The Poetry of the Blues, Bluesmen) as well as a producer of blues recordings, including the classic Chicago, The Blues Today! and albums by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy to name a few of the artists he recorded. Universal Music, through its Verve imprint issued several years ago seven of the Sonet lps for reissue in a series, The Sonet Blues Story. Six of these were from The Legacy of the Blues series. This is the first in several postings of reviews from that series that originally appeared in the June 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 283).

The late Chicago singer-guitarist, Mighty Joe Young was a fine purveyor of soul-laced blues in a mellow mode like his good friend Fenton Robinson. This writer had the pleasure to see Young while a senior at Case Western Reserve University and in fact he came on my WRUW blues show while playing The Kove in Kent, Ohio. He was promoting his Delmark album, Blues With a Touch of Soul at the time and was accompanied on the trip by a Delmark employee, Bruce Iglauer, who was a year or so from issuing the first album on Alligator Records. The Delmark album is my favorite of the various discs Young recorded with band with horns providing a tight backing for his extended blues performances. Young explained to me several years later that he dropped the horns because as he got booked increasingly on the then college market, horns were not viewed as blues instruments. Sonet has released a session with his then working band that included horns with a few overly familiar songs like Rock Me as well as then not overly recorded numbers like Percy Mayfield’s Baby Please and an original, Early in the Morning, which is an original that seems inspired by the Louis Jordan classic but with different lyrics. There is a nice mix of soul into his blues stew, but despite the fine piano of Bob Riedy and bassist Sylvester Boines, the session doesn’t fully jell and while Young sings and plays well, it is overshadowed by the earlier Delmark release.


It should be noted that on the Sonet reissues (including the Mighty Joe Young), the playing time is somewhat short. Even those with extra tracks, do not exceed 45 minutes. Still there is some really good music to be heard on these and if not essential releases, these are welcome additions to available blues.

This CD may be out-of-print but is available from various sellers and is available as mp3 files. Blues With a Touch of Soul is still in print. I received my review copy from the publication.

Zoot Sims Is "In A Sentimental Mood"

MVD Visual has released in the US the Gazell Records video of Zoot Sims, In a Sentimental Mood. This video was filmed in November, 1984, just months before the tenor saxophonist passed away. It was filmed at the library of Sonet Records in Lidingo, Sweden with Sims backed by Bassist Red Mitchell and guitarist Rune Gustafsson. The library setting and the drummer-less trio makes for an intimate performance. An interview by Mitchell of Sims (actually more of a conversation) is interspersed between the performances.


The performances focus on ballads starting with the Ellington classic that gives this DVD its title and ending with Autumn Leaves. The swinging Sims was a masterful ballad playing which, like his basic approach to the saxophone, reflected the influence of Lester young perhaps with a slightly vibrato that might have been picked up from Ben Webster. Mitchell provides a foundation as Gustafsson lends some chords with each taking solo breaks. Gone With the Wind opens with somewhat more of a breathier sound, perhaps reflecting more Webster here (and Webster did record this on a session with Art Tatum.


The interview portions includes recollections of his early days including a story of his time with Benny Goodman when he had a big apple on the stand and Benny had him solo and took the apple and kept gesturing for Sims to keep soloing as Goodman ate the apple and recalls it was the longest solo he ever had with Benny. After Sims had talked about his early days on 42nd Street, Mitchell himself recalls playing with a trio opening for Charlie Parker at the Onyx Club, and Bird after the set comes by and speaks in a very proper Wasp-ish accent and asks Mitchell to play the next set with him. Mitchell thinks this isn't serious until Bird announces it from the bandstand.


The light banter complements the performances with the filming centering mostly on the players faces and expressions, so we see Sims and his embouchure but little fingering, but their is plenty of character revealed in their faces as well as in the music. In a Sentimental Mood is a delightful video that fans of Sims' ballad mastery will certainly enjoy.


I received a review copy from MVD Video.

Champion Jack Dupree's Expatriate Blues

Back three decades ago, Samuel Charters produced a series of blues lps for the Swedish Sonet label, The Legacy of the Blues, along with some other blues recordings. Charters is known as both a blues author (The Country Blues, The Poetry of the Blues, Bluesmen) as well as a producer of blues recordings, including the classic Chicago, The Blues Today! and albums by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy to name a few of the artists he recorded. Universal Music, through its Verve imprint has just issued seven of the seven Sonet lps for reissue in a series, The Sonet Blues Story. Six of these are from The Legacy of the Blues series. This is the second in a series of posts of my reviews from this series that originally appeared in the June 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 283).

Champion Jack Dupree had been resident in Europe for over a decade (and he would remain there for the rest of his life) when he entered the studio in 1971 to record with English musicians. The New Orleans born pianist and former boxer had first recorded some barrelhouse blues and boogie woogie in a style that pre-dated the modern New Orleans tradition that Professor Longhair launched. Dupree was a strong player with a fertile lyrical mind and the cd opens with an anti-war blues, Vietnam Blues, followed by a diverse group of material from the odd rhythms of Drunk Again to Anything You Want, with its light second-line groove. Dupree mixes spoken lines with his vocal lines with plenty of humor and good spirits as his backing band provides understated backing with occasional guitar solos from one Peter Curtley as Paul Rowan adds some harp. One can hear echoes of Leroy Carr, an influence on most bluesmen growing up when Dupree was growing, up on the wistful slow blues Will It Be, with nice harp adding to the feel, and its followed up by a rollicking groove on You’re the One. Dupree has a fairly extensive discography out and this is an enjoyable addition to it. A very different take of Vietnam Blues, is one of several unissued tracks made available for the first time.


It should be noted that on these Sonet reissues, the playing time is somewhat short, and even those with extra tracks do not exceed 45 minutes. Still there is some really good music to be heard on these and if not essential releases, these are welcome additions to available blues.

This CD may be out-of-print but should available from various sellers and is available as mp3 files. I received my review copy from the publication.

Blues Before Sunrise's Enlightening Blues Interviews

Blues Before Sunrise: The Radio Interviews
Steve Cushing
2010: University of Illinois


Steve Cushing hosts a long-running, syndicated blues radio program. "Blues Before Sunrise" on WBEZ on Chicago and he has compiled a collection of interviews on that program that should be of interest to anyone interested in the blues. What sets this book of interviews apart is that he does not focus on persons that were household names or written about extensively. What is valuable also is the depth that many of the interviews here are in the fashion of some of the interviews that were in living Blues in that publication's glory days. There is a common format to each of interviews as Cushing discusses the circumstances of how the interviews took place.


This book is divided into three parts. The first is entitled "Ancient Age" and includes interviews with Yank Rachell, Jesse Thomas, Alberta Hunter and The Grey Ghost. There is insight about their personalities as well as their career. Rachell provides insights on John Estes, Sonny Boy Williamson I, as well as his own style. Alberta Hunter's has her talk about some of her associates and some of the facts of her career while Jesse Thomas talks about T-Bone (and how T-Bone got some guitar stuff from him), Lloyd Glenn and his various recordings, both pre-war and post-war. Pianist Grey Ghost was part of a vibrant Texas piano blues tradition and reminiscences about life and some of his contemporaries. Neither Thomas not The Grey Ghost are presented extensively in interviews (my friend Eleanor Ellis did do one with Thomas) so having these available are invaluable.


Part Two is entitled "Postwar Glory" and has lengthy interviews with John and Grace Brim, Jody Williams. Rev. Johnny Williams and Little Hudson. Of these Jody Williams revived his musical career in the past several years, while the Brims provide insight into the scene in Gary, as well as a recording career that took them to Detroit with Big maceo and Chicago where they did sides with Little Walter. Jody Williams is among the most significant blues guitarists though was disgusted by the industry after he was ripped off of composer credits for "Love Is Strange." He chronicles his time with Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley here as well as his own choice recordings. With the late blues mandolinist/guitarist, Johnny Williams made among the earliest recordings in the post-war Chicago scene and provided recollections of numerous artists on the scene. Little Hudson is among a number of artists like Big Boy Spires and Moody Jones who made some memorable recordings but never became big names.


Part 3 is entitled "Esoterica" and has interviews with Tommy brown, Ralph Bass, Cadillac Baby and Richard Stamz. Tommy brown is still with us and regales Cushing and us with a flamboyant story of his career as a blues shouter, comedian and more. There are some tall tales as represented by a claim to have spoken with Otis Redding the night before he died. The problem with this is Brown claims Redding came to the DeLisa to see him, but Redding performed in Leo's Casino in Cleveland before taking his fatal flight. Brown is not the only interviewee who has embellished his career, and while one can appreciate his music, some of his claims here may be overstated. Ralph Bass discusses his lengthy career in recording and while I was familiar with his time with King Records, I was unaware of his prior stint at Black & White and his role with "Open The Door Richard," as well as recording T-Bone Walker, Jack McVea and Helen Humes. Cadillac Baby was another character detailing his club and recoding activities while Stamz was a very popular Chicago radio host I was totally unfamiliar with.


Living Blues Co-Founder Jim O'Neal provides a cogent foreword to the interviews here. Cushing concludes the book with a brief history of the radio show and how it has changed from the early days when he conducted it live he developed a relationship with many of his listeners and how syndication and time has changed aspects of this. It is the coda on a fascinating selection of interviews. One wonders what other interviews Steve might have included.  One might only hope sales of this would encourage a follow-up volume. "Before Sunrise: The Radio Interviews" is highly recommended.


I purchased my copy.

Barrelhouse Chuck, Erwin Helfer and the Piano Blues

I remember when the D.C. Blues Society presented Barrelhouse Chuck with Mark Wenner and Ben Andrews for what was a very magical evening of acoustic blues. He was supposed to have recorded an album at the time but it never was released. Thankfully we have an absolutely wonderful disc Prescription For the Blues (The Sirens) by a man who was mentored by legends like Sunnyland Slim and Little Brother Montgomery and the lessons he learned from these giants are evident in his strong playing that evokes the great piano blues of the past and his own vocals.


Several tracks are introduced by a short homage to the original artist whether Montgomery on the title track (Erwin Helfer plays the piano on this while Chuck sings), Sunnyland Slim on Johnson Machine Gun and Going Back to Memphis (Slim’s variation on the Rollin’ and Tumblin’ theme taken by Chuck as an instrumental), or Leroy Carr on Barrelhouse Women, Mean Mistreater Mama, Straight Alky Blues, and My Own Lonesome Blues as well as his own renditions of blues standards like Sitting on Top of the World, Tin Pan Alley and Corrine Corrina.


His renditions of many of these numbers are truly a joy as he displays a touch and sense of time that many heralded pianists’ lack. He really captures the flavor of Montgomery and Carr with his playing along with his natural singing. With Sunnyland Slim’s material, he evokes the flavor of Slim’s originals, but doesn’t duplicate Sunnyland’s own distinctive sense of phrasing. On Ain’t Nobody’s Business Erwin Helfer joins him for a piano-organ duet on this blues standard. Handsomely packaged, Prescription For the Blues is an absolute delight that piano blues enthusiasts will want.

Barrelhouse Chuck is also present on 8 Hands on 88 Keys (The Sirens) along with pianists Erwin Helfer, Detroit Junior and Pinetop Perkins. Chuck opens with a fine rendition of Sunnyland Slim’s It’s You Baby, followed by a fine slow instrumental, Rooster’s Blues, is backed by Helfer on Pinetop’s Blues where Helfer plays some stunning runs inspired by Pinetop Smith’s original, and by Detroit Junior on Miss Ida B, an old Roosevelt Sykes number that Pinetop Perkins frequently performs.


Detroit Junior, a member of Howlin’ Wolf’s last band, is also represented on disc and it’s a delight to hear him on the rollicking I’m So Unhappy and the slow country-inflected Ella although his rendition of Staggerlee, based on Lloyd’sPrice’s hit is simply pleasant. Helfer backs him for Ain’t Nobody’s Business, which is followed by a fine original boogie woogie and Jimmy Yancey’s 4 O’clock Blues. Helfer accompanies Pinetop Perkins vocal on the Ivory Joe Hunter classic, I Almost Lost My Mind, which is followed by Perkins’ typical renditions of Grinder Man Blues, How Much More and How Long Blues. There is perhaps nothing new from Pinetop, but his performances provide a fine end to a collection of top-notch piano blues performances. It should be mentioned that Helfer has an excellent disc on The Sirens, I’m Not Hungry But I Like To Eat – Blues that was nominated for a Handy Award as Comeback Blues album of the year.

Another highly recommended piano blues album is Christian Dozzler’s All Alone and Blue. The Austrian born Dozzler was for years a member of The Mojo Blues Band, one of Europe’s leading blues aggregations. He played with Larry Garner for a period and now is based in Dallas where he plays with Robin Banks (he can be heard on her two excellent discs I reviewed a few months ago. This disc features some strong piano and vocals with the title track and Midnight Hour Blues being strong renditions of Leroy Carr numbers while his rollicking piano drives along John Brim’s Be Careful. A couple of tracks display his strong boogie woogie piano style and he even takes out the harmonica for a track. You can order this as well as the discs on The Sirens thru cdbaby.com, and likely better stores and online cd retailers.


This review of several piano blues albums appeared originally in the September 2003 DC Blues Calendar, then the newsletter of the DC Blues Society. I likely received review copies of the albums on The Sirens and purchased the Christian Dozzler CD.  These are still available.

Happy 80th Birthday Little Willie Littlefield

Little Willie Littlefield at the House of Blues, New Orleans
2009 Ponderosa Stomp. Photo © Ron Weinstock

The recent passing of songwriter Jerry Lieber brought Little Willie Littlefield to mind. Willie is still with us. He is seen here from the 2009 Ponderosa Stomp. The Texas-born West Coast jump blues pianist was influenced by the likes of Ivory Joe Hunter and Amos Milburn. His recording career started in 1949 and continued through the 50s, although he recorded for the Blues Connisseur label in the early 70s before he moved to Europe where he still lives.


Little Willie Littlefield recorded "K.C. Lovin'" for Federal in 1952 that was the original of "Kansas City." I remember a Blues Unlimited interview which he claimed to have written the song and sold it to Lieber and Stoller. He also claimed the same with "Ruby, Ruby," which he recorded for Rhythm in 1957. He had some other fine recordings that varied from moody to ebullient “Happy Payday”).


Anyway his Stomp performance pictured was first rate. He turns 80 today and we celebrate this legend of rhythm and blues.