Best known for "That's All Right" and two other songs covered by Elvis Presley, bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup was born in Forest, Mississippi. Crudup visited Chicago in 1939 as a member of the gospel group The Harmonizing Four and stayed to work as a solo artist but was not successful. He toured the country in 1948 with Sonny Boy Williamson II and Elmore James. This session was recorded November 10, 1969 and features Jimmy Dawkins and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. Crudup's guitar was amped through the same rotating Leslie speaker that Buddy Guy used on Junior Wells' Hoodoo Man Blues (DMK 612) for seven of the nine songs here. There's also a talk section between Crudup and producer Bob Koester.
Anthony Braxton was first documented as a player in 1967 on Muhal Richard Abrams' Levels and Degrees of Light (DMK 413) Nine months of gestation produced this, his first recording as a leader. Braxton the player/composer/constructor is here at full length. In retrospect he was a much more developed and confident musician than he may have seemed at the time.
Let's Live It Up is Mississippi Heat's third recording for Delmark. For this outing, the band recorded 14 new original songs, eleven by leader, harmonica player Pierre Lacocque. Special guest John Primer sings on 3 cuts. Another great blues guitarist Carl Weathersby and keyboardist Chris "Hambone" Cameron can be heard throughout the album. Inetta Visor sings on 8 tunes, while singer Rhonda Preston delivers two songs. The Chicago Horns, percussionist Ruben Alvarez, and background vocalists also appear on this exciting and best Mississippi Heat recording to date. More Mississippi Heat on Delmark: One Eye Open, Live at Rosa's (CD DMK 783, DVD DMK 1783), Hattiesburg Blues (DMK 795).
Both critically acclaimed and the best-selling newly recorded album for Delmark in recent times, 2012's Been There Done That put Linsey Alexander in the blues spotlight. "Throughout Alexander sings with a conviction and verve that few can equal. This should be his breakout recording." Gary von Tersch, Big City Rhythm & Blues Similar to the first album, Come Back Baby is full of delightful new originals including "Little Bit of Soap", "Booty Call", "Call My Wife", "Things Done Changed", "Too Old To Be A New Fool" and the title track. Once again Linsey led his nine-piece band live in the studio with special guest Billy Branch on harmonica.
For some, the harmonica is not much more than an inexpensive plaything, but as the artists featured here amply demonstrate, the expressive range of the harmonica is as deep and wide as any other musical instrument in the blues, rivaled only by the human voice. These are among the very greatest blues players ever to pick up the instrument, from world renowned legends like Junior Wells (heard here on a previously unreleased take), Big Walter Horton and Little Walter, through undeservedly obscure players whose fame barely stretched beyond their own neighborhoods. This CD contains the best harp players on Delmark, and also includes previously unissued tracks.
This 1957 recording has not been available since the original LP issue which has been out of print for decades. Traditional jazz at it's best on this new CD version which has many never before issued bonus tracks. Live in Fulton Missouri, The Dixie Stompers are Bill Mason, cornet; Norman Mason, clarinet; Jim Haislip, trombone; Glenn Tintera, piano; Pete Patterson, banjo; Bob Kornacher, drums. Heebie Jeebies, Dippermouth Blues, Doctor Jazz and many more.
In a review of Jason Stein's debut album, The Story This Time (Delmark 2013), JazzTimes said "This record kills. The double-horn front line allows for torrid, bop-rooted synchronicity and numerous moments of unfettered exploration." Stein understands the bass clarinet's history and seeks to extend it's comfort zone, and he's not prone to move into the stratosphere, staying in the natural range on his instrument, but picking up the pace manually, the overland route, through force of will. Add to a couple tracks the contrabass clarinet of Keefe Jackson, which ratchets the sound down into the substrata a few notches, and the uncanny play between the anchor and the waves is even more pronounced.
Linsey Alexander is a classic Bluesman, and these performances come from a live show at a the legendary Chicago Blues club, Rosa's Lounge. Continuing the Delmark legacy of great live recordings, this album will give Linsey the respect he deserves as an artist and mentor to many younger musicians.
Blues From The Inside Out is the most expressive project of Dave Specter's 35 year career. Featuring his debut as a vocalist, the album is an exciting and timely celebration of blues, soul, jazz, funk and gospel. With a guest appearance on guitar by Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna fame, who also co-wrote one of the album's 12 original tunes. These are exciting times to hear Specter, an evolving artist who embraces growth and discovery. In times when darkness and doubt may seem to hang over us, we need to remember the world is illuminated by possibilities. With this new album, Dave Specter's brilliant light shines down on us all.
In the mid-1960's, the Chicago & St. Louis jazz tradition became embodied in the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in Chicago, and the Black Artist Group (BAG) in St. Louis. The two collectives were founded on the freedom principle & were dedicated to jazz as a living, vital expression. Oliver Lake & Julius Hemphill facilitated exchanges between the two groups - Lester Bowie, spending time in both locations, the common denominator. This album features AACM trumpeter Malachi Thompson with BAG saxmen Oliver Lake & Hamiet Bluiett.
This is the second live CD by Terry Waldo's Gutbucket Syncopators on Delmark from the now-defunct Blackbird label. The first, Hot House Rag (DMK 239), has sold very well and received excellent reviews. The Ohio Theater Concert took place on April 13, 1974 and featured Roy Tate - trumpet, Jim Snyder - trombone, Frank Powers - clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, Terry Waldo - piano, Bill Moorhead - banjo, Mike Walbridge - tuba, Wayne Jones - drums, Edith Wilson - vocals. Edith Wilson was the second African-American woman to make phonograph records, recording a full year and a half before Bessie Smith. The addition of previously unissued songs makes this CD a full hour of inspired traditional jazz.
Barkin' Bill didn't bark. He was stylistically similar to the smoother singers like Brook Benton, Joe Williams and Jimmy Witherspoon. In a review of this 1994 release Frank-John Hadley said Barkin' Bill "certainly understands how to draw pained eloquence from the dusty nooks and flaked-paint recesses of his dark, weathered voice, which wraps around the love complaints of "As Long As I Have You" and 11 more tunes (excluding the two originals). Several selections on this superior follow-up to 1991's Bluebird Blues (DMK 652) get a big boost from the fine playing of guitarist Steve Freund and the soul and jazz dripping Chicago Horns." - Down Beat.
Johnny B. burst on the scene in 1975 as guitarist for Koko Taylor's Blues Machine and Willie Dixon's All-Stars. The Clarksdale, Mississippi native was only 25 at the time but has gone on to become a leader with almost a dozen albums and one of the greatest living guitarists. "Moore's repertoire extends from obscure '30s Delta chestnuts to contemporary soul blues, and his improvisational technique blends dexterity, imagination, and taste." - Chicago Reader.
Rob Mazurek & Chad Taylor have been the heart & soul of the Chicago Underground groups for over a decade. Bassist Jason Ajemian makes his CUT debut, bringing a wide range of musical influences to the table. "The trio's music is never frenetic; it is lapidary in it's precision. With painterly splashes of organ & electronics, it casts a nocturnal spectral glow" - New York Times.
Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Strings (BES), rides at the forefront of jazz, new music and creative improvisation. Mitchell's "rough and edgy" aesthetic rebels from the flowery sweet flute and string stereotype the runs rampant in jazz, which makes Renegades an appropriate title for the project. On Renegades, Mitchell's compositions bring African rhythms, contemporary sounds and swinging improvisation to a chamber music setting. Mitchell's BES concept started in 1997, but this is the group's first commercial recording. The CD features Nicole Mitchell - flute, alto flute, piccolo, Renee Baker - violin, viola, Tomeka Reid - cello, Joshua Abrams - bass, gimbre and Shirazette Tinnin - drums and percussion.
Sun Rooms is Jason Adasiewicz's three year old trio featuring Jason (vibraphone), Mike Reed (drums) and Nate McBride (bass). Their debut record Sun Rooms (DMK 593) was named by the New York Times (Ben Ratliff) as one of the Top 10 Pop and Jazz Records of 2010. Spacer was written in the winter of 2011 and slowly shaped through a month long residency at a north side Chicago bar, the Whistler. Engineered by Griffin Rodriguez, Spacer documents 8 new tunes by Adasiewicz, one from McBride, and one from Dutch cornetist Eric Boeren.
Sun Ra's second album was a Delmark release recorded in 1957, although it was originally intended for the Transition label, which did not survive long enough to release it. Personnel: Sun Ra, piano, electric piano; Art Hoyle & Dave Young, trumpets; John Gilmore, tenor sax; Pat Patrick, alto & baritone sax; Jim Herndon, tympani, timbali; Julian Priester, trombone; Charles Davis, baritone sax; Victor Sproles, bass; William Cochran, drums; Clyde Williams, vocals. (Previously deleted:4/1/02. Original release date:1/3/98)
In February 1957, Bob Koester wrote in his newsletter, the Jazz Report, that recent rediscoveries of legendary artists Big Joe Williams and Speckled Red gave information on other forgotten musicians from the 1920s. Koester was told that Paramount and Decca recording artist Barrelhouse Buck McFarland was still around St Louis and he passed that info along to Charlie O'Brien, a fellow member of the St Louis Jazz Club and a St Louis policeman. Buck, the aged entertainer, rugged barrelhouse pianist and marvelous blues singer enjoyed the new interest in his work. Henry Brown, and especially Speckled Red, created new careers and Buck might have as well, but he passed just 8 months after this 1961 recording.
Pianist-composer Paul Giallorenzo (GitGO, Hearts & Minds) assembles a new trio for his second Delmark release. Covering wide terrain, from energetic swing to bluesy soulfulness to sonic exploration, these original compositions further Giallorenzo's exploration of improvising within and without melodic, rhythmic, and formal structures. The music is deeply embedded in the tradition with a sound and feeling that is personal and contemporary. In a review of Giallorenzo's first Delmark release, Force Majeure (DMK 5015), the Chicago Reader praised it for it's "melodic and harmonic depth", "rich polyphonic arrangements" and "dam-bursting energy and woolly extended techniques."
Earl Hines moved to Chicago in 1926 at the age of 21 and began his association with Louis Armstrong, with whom he recorded. Hines is recognized as a major innovator in the development of jazz piano, and he was also a major band leader performing at, and broadcasting from, the Grand Terrace Ballroom in Chicago from 1928-43. He moved to the S.F. Bay Area in 1956 & lived there until he passed in 1983. This live sextet performance was recorded May 13, 1970 in San Francisco.
Tenor saxophonist Halliday, who was a true veteran of the Hollywood, New York, Nashville & Chicago jazz scenes, passed away in early 1999, but this 1988 session reminds US of his artistry, joined by pianist Jodie Christian, bassist Dennis Carroll & drummer Tom Kronquist.
