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Jimmy Burns
Red
Hot Mama
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Jimmy Burns: Back To
The Delta (Delmark) 
Johnny B. Moore: Rockin' In The Same Old Boat(Delmark)
Dave Clark's Blues Swingers: Switchin' In The Kitchen
(Delmark)
As the
blues supposedly celebrates it's one hundredth birthday,
Chicago's venerable Delmark label marks it's fiftieth
anniversary. Numerous labels have come and gone in that
span but America's oldest independent jazz & blues
label is still going strong as they continue to issue
vital new records. Their latest batch of blues is particularly
fine including strong Chicago blues from Jimmy Burns
and Johnny B. Moore plus the swinging big band blues
of Dave Clark's Blues Swingers featuring the late Floyd
McDaniel.
Jimmy
Burns has followed a well worn path from his birthplace
in Mississippi in 1943 to Chicago's bright lights in
1955. His emergence as a bluesman, however, was a long
time in coming. It was doo-wop that caught his ear when
he came to Chicago and he sang with vocal groups and
then sang soul music in the 60's as the music changed,
even cutting a handful of well regarded singles. In
the early 90's he began to rekindle his blues career
emerging with his belated debut "Leaving Here Walking"
for the Delmark label at age 53. The equally strong
"Night Time Again" came out in 1999 and now
we have "Back To The Delta" another powerful
statement from this fine bluesman. As the title suggests
Burns reaches back to his Delta roots on this one infusing
his brand of Chicago blues with a down-home feel. All
but two of the songs are originals, many filled with
southern imagery plus plenty of tasteful but hard noised
guitar work and Burns' passionate vocals. This is a
uniformly strong outing as Burns and his tight band
go back to the Delta on the lowdown "Stranded In
Clarksdale", a powerful slide soaked version of
Muddy's "I Feel Like Going Home" (a jukebox
favorite when he was a kid), the chugging lament of
"Country Boy In The City" featuring some intricately
stinging guitar work and the traditionally minded bounce
of "Yonder Come Miss Rosey." The rocking "Red
Hot Mama" and "the shuffling "Who's Been
Using That Thing" are more up to date Chicago blues.
Johnny
B. Moore has been a fixture on the Chicago club scene
since leaving Koko Taylor's band at the beginning of
the 80's. Johnny B. Moore plays passionate West side
blues very much in the style of the late great Magic
Sam. What sets Moore apart from the crowd is his tremendous
guitar work, not only his stinging leads but it's his
twisting fills and rhythmic work that enliven even the
most tired Chicago blues standards. Moore is a equally
fine vocalist, using a measure of grit and a good dose
of soul. Moore has been prolific since the early 90's
cutting three records for the Wolf label and three for
Delmark. "Rockin' In The Same Old Boat" is
one of his best, with a raw immediacy not far removed
from the clubs with plenty of rough hewn soul. The set
list is mostly covers including inspired versions of
Buster Benton's "Lonesome For A Dime" an achingly
soul drenched take, the chugging soul number "She
Hit Me From The Blind Side" and the romping Albert
King inspired "Matchbox" with a wonderful
spoken story that's totally engaging. Other highlights
include the original "Broke Man", a tough
Chicago styled shuffle ("What make a broke man
sleep so sound? He didn't have a damn thing before he
laid down") and West side staples like the tough
as nails "Cut You Loose" and a torrid version
of Magic Sam's "Lookin' Good."
While
the retro-swing trend has thankfully run it's course
there's still plenty of vitality in the old jump blues
genre if placed in the right hands. There's no denying
that saxophonist/bandleader Dave Clark has got the music
down and he's been playing it long before the upstarts.
Clark assembled his first edition of the Blues Swingers
back in the 80's and in addition to an undeniable feel
for the music he also had veteran swing man Floyd McDaniel
as his secret weapon. McDaniel came to Chicago in 1930,
played and sang the blues on the streets of Chicago,
learned the electric guitar and joined the jump blues
combo Four Blazes (later became the Five Blazes) who
made some jumping records in the 40's and 50's. Nine
of the fifteen cuts feature McDaniel and are unreleased
demos from 1991-92 predating his marvelous Delmark debut,
"Let Your Hair Down" by two years. McDaniel
has a big voice that's equally effective shouting or
crooning the blues and plays some stellar T-Bone Walker
inspired electric guitar. Highlights include high powered
jump numbers like "Untrue Woman", "Caldonia"
and "Mary Jo" plus fine ballads like "How
Long", "Cold, Cold Feeling" and "West
Side Baby" featuring some of McDaniel's most inspired
guitar work. McDaniel passed away in 1995 and the rest
of the cuts stem from 1999 featuring half instrumentals
and half vocals from new frontman Jasen Schrock. In
2001 the Blues Swingers hung up their zoot suits for
good.
Fifty
years down the road Delmark is still run by Bob Koester
and what started out as a hobby has turned into one
of the great blues and jazz labels. Judging by these
excellent new releases Delmark shows no signs of flagging
and the quality of their releases remains as high as
ever.
-Check
out these related links:
Jimmy
Burns
Website
Delmark
Records Website
(Jeff Harris)
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Muddy Waters: Muddy
"Mississippi" Waters Live
(Sony)
If
anyone epitomized Chicago blues it was certainly Muddy
Waters, whose swaggering Delta rooted sound, authoritative
vocals and piercing slide work brought the music to
a worldwide audience. With his death in 1983 no one
has ever filled his shoes and his impact looms larger
than ever. There isn't a year that goes by that we
don't see new Muddy Waters collections plus a steady
stream of unreleased material, often of varying quality.
The release of the 2-CD "Muddy "Mississippi"
Waters Live", however, is truly something special.
The original album issued in 1979 captured Muddy in
his later years better than any other document and
in now we get an entire second CD of previously unreleased
live material every bit as enthralling as the original.
"Muddy
"Mississippi" Waters Live"
captures Muddy in his twilight years, a period of
renewed vitality showing the old man had plenty of
fire left. Muddy had left Chess Records in the mid-70's
(his home for 25 years) during a period of lackluster
recordings and was fortuitous enough to hook up with
friend and admirer Johnny Winter who help resuscitate
his career and bring him to a wider audience. Through
Winter, Muddy signed on with the Blue Sky label in
the late 70's and blazed a remarkable comeback with
excellent records like "Hard Again", "I'm
Ready" and "King Bee." "Muddy
"Mississippi" Waters Live" was
cut in the midst of this comeback (1977-78) finding
Muddy at the peak of his powers. As writer Bill Dahl
eloquently wrote of Muddy during this period he "roared
like a lion who had just awoken from a long nap."
The
recordings here stem from two concerts, one from Detroit's
Masonic Auditorium (77-78) and the other from Harry
Hope's club in Carey, Illinois (1978).
Muddy always had great bands
and his band during this period is no exception including:
pianist Pinetop Perkins, drummer Willie Smith,
guitarists Bob Margolin, Luther "Guitar Jr."
Johnson and Johnny Winter, Jerry Portnoy harp, Calvin
Jones and Charles Calmese bass, Willie "Big Eyes"
Smith drums and Pinetop Perkins piano. Disc 1 contains
the original album in it's entirety and Muddy and
the boys are in devastating form. Muddy and the band
are in full throttle as they run through a throbbing
"Mannish Boy" as Muddy and Winter trade
off vocals to glorious effect and then Muddy turns
the damper down for a series of remarkable slow burners.
"Slow blues is where all the soul is", Muddy
said, and you can believe it on "She's Nineteen
Years Old", "Streamline Woman" and
the newer "Deep Down In Florida" as Muddy
unleashes some vicious slide and his deep, declamatory
vocals.
If
you own the original album it's disc 2 that's the
reason to pick this new version up. These recordings
come from tapes recorded over two days in 1978 at
Harry Hope's club and have never been released before.
Guitarist Bob Margolin states that these are "the
best recording of what Muddy and his band of this
time sounded like live back then", and he should
know. Muddy is in fine form once again, a bit looser
perhaps due to a little too much champagne as Margolin
points out. Muddy playfully introduces the band and
launches into a wonderfully intimate version of T-Bone's
"Stormy Monday Blues" (T-Bone had just passed)
one of the disc's highlights. There's a more diverse
set list here than on disc one including infrequently
played songs like "Trouble No More", the
fiery slow blues of "She Moves Me" and a
new song "Champagne and Reefer" which would
come out on 1981's "King Bee" record. Other
highlights include a fine "Kansas City"
with Muddy and Pinetop trading off vocals and a romping
"Everything Gonna Be Alright" with vocals
handed over to Luther "Guitar
Jr." Johnson.
Muddy
Waters recorded a number of live albums through the
years but outside of the transcendent "At Newport"
from 1960 (remastered in 2001) none are really essential.
As such "Muddy
"Mississippi" Waters Live" is
an important document capturing Muddy Waters leaving
the stage at the pinnacle of his powers.
In addition Sony has done a marvelous job on the packaging
including the glossy fold out design, great photos,
remastered sound and a lengthy booklet with an introduction
by Muddy biographer Robert Gordon and liner notes
by Bob margolin who provides a detailed insider's
view of the period. Undeservedly recommended!
-Check
out these other Muddy Waters reviews:
Fathers
& Sons
Muddy
Waters Biography
At
Newport 1960
(Jeff
Harris)
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Duke Robillard: Exalted
Lover (Stony Plain)
Duke
Robillard is renowned as a master guitar player
(voted best blues guitarist at the W.C. Handy
awards three out of four times) with an uncanny
ability to play every style from jazz, blues to
swing and play them well. While there's plenty
of hot guitar on "Exalted Lover" the
focus here is on his equally fine singing and
songwriting.
Robillard is best remembered as one of the founding
members of Roomful of Blues, as well as one of
the guitarists in the Fabulous Thunderbirds (replacing
Jimmie Vaughan). He's cut numerous records under
his own name throughout the 80 and 90's with the
blues talking a back seat in recent years for
a more eclectic bent. "Exalted Lover"
has a plenty of top drawer blues but also shows
off Robillard's diversity as he romps through
country, jazz and rockabilly with ease and along
the way displays some of his best singing and
songwriting to date.
This
is Robillard's project all the way, he produced,
wrote eight of the ten tracks and assembled a
stellar cast of musicians. On board are are his
knockout horn section (including some ex-Roomful
members) featuring Doug James on baritone, Scott
Aruda on trumpet, Sax Gordon on alto and Carl
Querfurth on trombone. Also along for the ride
are guest stars Pam Tillis and Debbie Davis. "Down
Home Country Girl" joyously kicks things
off in driving R&B fashion propelled by those
great horns while "Tore Up" is another
horn driven R&B number this time with a good
dose of funk." The heat is turned up on the
blistering rocker "Real Live Wire" and
the romping Texas shuffle "How Long Has It
Been" which bears a strong Albert Collins
stamp as Collins protégé
Debbie Davis duets
with Robillard as they unleash some stinging guitar
work. "Deep Inside" bears a strong Texas-Lousiana
brand as Robillard uncorks some tough, soulful
R&B and searing guitar in the mold of Guitar
Slim. Robillard shows off his feel for roots music
on the gorgeous country duet with Pam Tillis "I'll
Never Be Free", the rockabilly styled "Love
Made A Liar Out Of Me" and the raunchy big
band blues of the retro "Double X Daddy."
The
diversified feel of "Exalted Lover"
encapsulates what Robillard does best as he says
himself: "It touches everything I do. Blues,
R&B, funky tunes, a country edge; the roots
of American music." "Exalted Lover"
hits on all cylinders as Robillard delivers another
totally satisfying outing.
-Check
out past reviews:
Living
With The Blues
(Jeff
Harris)
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Lavelle White: Into The Mystic
(Antones)
"Miss"
Lavelle White doesn't record frequently (six years since
her last) but when this soul diva does, the results are
always worthwhile. "Into The Mystic" is an expertly
produced, gritty soul drenched affair that shows that
in her 70's "Miss" Lavelle is just hitting her
stride.
White
has been a part of the still vital Houston blues scene
since the 50's. Like many of that era she got her start
at the legendary Duke-Peacock label, cutting her first
sides with Duke in 1958 and laying down about a dozen
sides for the company. White also toured nationally throughout
the '50's and '60's as an opening or supporting act for
such artists as B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker,
Sam Cooke and many others. It wasn't until 1994 that she
cut her first record for the locally based Antones label
(voted one of the best blues albums of the year) and received
three W.C. Handy Award nominations in 1995, including
Artist of the Year before cutting a follow-up in 1997.
"Into The Mystic" is another fine chapter for
this tough Texas soul lady.
White
has always been an excellent songwriter this time favoring
us with fewer originals but compensates with some first
rate covers. The record was well produced by ace session
guitarist Derek O'Brien who has produced records by numerous
Texas greats such as Phillip Walker, Long John Hunter,
Sue Foley, Pete Mayes and countless others. Backing
White is a talented cast of veterans including Riley Osbourne
on piano/organ, Larry Fulcher on bass and Barry "Frosty"
Smith on drums both from W.C. Clark's band plus the ubiquitous
"Kaz" Kazanoff on sax. White is in marvelous
voice on gorgeous covers of "Soul Deep", a stunning
version of Van Morrison's "Into The Mystic",
a touching version of Merle Haggard's "Today I Started
Loving You" and a tough version of Stevie Wonder's
topical "Livin' For The City." As usual White's
originals are first rate including the stripped down "Love
In Return" with just guitarist Steve James, the deep
soul ballad of "If (I Could Be With You) with O'Brien
unleashing some tough Johnny "Guitar" Watson
styled licks and the rollicking roadhouse feel of "Computer
Blues" with Osbourne really cutting loose on the
88's.
If
"Miss" Lavelle keeps putting records out this
good I guess we can't complain if they come out every
five or six years. "Into The Mystic" is an unflaggingly
good record that's sure to garner White even more acclaim
and probably some more well deserved awards.
(Jeff Harris)
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Jay McShann: Goin'
To Kansas City (Stony Plain)
At
age 87 Jay McShann continues his amazing musical journey
which started back in 1941 with his first recording
session. "Goin' To Kansas City" is McShann's
third for Stony Plain and once again he sounds absolutely
timeless as he effortlessly blends jazz and blues
on another swinging collection.
McShann
made his initial mark with Decca during 1941-42 with
an orchestra that featured fine blues singer Walter
Brown and a young alto player by the name of Charlie
Parker. That association with Parker has unfairly
overshadowed McShann's many talents as a bandleader,
piano player and singer. After the 40's McShann remained
in obscurity until a resurgence in the 70's when he
started appearing at jazz festivals and making numerous
recordings for labels like Sackville, Storyville,
New World and most recently with Stony Plain. His
prior Stony Plain outings have been outstanding featuring
McShann with a large band while this new one is a
more stripped down affair but with the same magical
results.
"Goin'
To Kansas City" was recorded in McShann's hometown
of Kansas City over the course of a few years. The
sessions include mostly small band sessions plus piano
duets, vocal duets and the ever tasteful guitar playing
of Duke Robillard who had a big hand in the success
of McShann's previous Stony Plain recordings. McShann
is a joy to listen to and is in marvelous form from
his laid back vocals to his spare bluesy piano work.
McShann's core band features a pair of excellent Kansas
City musicians as they runs through classics like
"Kansas City", "Trouble In Mind",
"'Fore Day Rider" and delivers fine solo
pieces particularly a stellar take of "Ain't
Nobody's Business." McShann is joined by Maria
Muldaur on a fine duet of his seminal "Confessin'
The Blues", duets with pianist Johnnie Johnson
on "Kansas City (Revisited)", the instrumental
"Some Kinda Crazy' and reminiscence on the spoken
"Jay And Johnnie Conversation." Other highlights
include Robillard's impeccable guitar particularly
on "Nasty Attitude" and "Wrong Neighborhood"
while McShann lays down some remarkable piano on the
funky "My Chile" and the instrumental "The
Fish Fry Boogie." A bonus track features a lengthy,
informative interview with McShann at his Kansas City
home.
"Goin'
To Kansas City" is a fantastic listen from start
to finish and McShann seemingly gets better with age.
There's hardly anyone left who plays like McShann
making each new recording a real treasure.
(Jeff Harris)
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