Celebrating Chicago Blues 2002
I know I've been writing blues history lessons on these screens of Cosmik Blues more often than not lately, but I think it is very important to keep the heritage of the blues alive. This month, I'm going to preview a handful of Chicago-area bluesmen who are working the same blues circuit that Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf and other post-war blues players played.
While the venues have changed, the passion for the blues has not, and artists like Steve Arvey, Little Johnny Moore, Billy King, and Willie Kent all show me that Chicago blues are in very good hands.
Steve Arvey got his start playing the blues on Maxwell Street in the 1970's. Not a lot is left of this blues incubator neighborhood that jump-started the careers of Junior Wells, Robert Nighthawk, Jr., and Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis, among many others. Steve moved to Florida to play bass for Bo Diddley, but returned to Chicago twenty years ago to form West Side Heat, a hard-rocking blues band that called it quits in 1991. Steve then turned to Irish music through the sponsorship of Harp Lager and went to the Old Town School of Folk Music, inspired by the great traditional Irish folksingers Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy. Returning to the blues in the late 90's with local blues singer Kraig Kenning, Steve released Pass The Hat: Acoustic Blues, a textbook Mississippi Delta country blues disc. Pass The Hat includes classic versions of "Can't Be Satisfied" and Robert Johnson's "If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day," two Delta signposts in the blues.
Steve's recently returned from a successful Australian tour, and his latest studio CD, Soul of a Man, was produced by Australia's Only Blues Music and it is available through Steve's website. My favorites include Steve's version of Muddy Waters' "Trouble No More" and his cover of Mike Jordan's "Mississippi." Not the basketball Michael Jordan, but the late, great Chicago club rocker and founder of Mike Jordan and the Rockamatics. I spent some very formative evenings listening to Mike Jordan and the Rockamatics in venues like Biddy Mulligans or Orphans. The band would mix it up with blues, rockabilly and folk and play songs from Mike's cassette, Ask Her to Dance. Mike was an inspiration to me but also to Steve Arvey as well, and I'm pleased that Steve honored his friend and mentor by recording "Mississippi." For more information on Steve Arvey, go to www.stevearvey.com.
I've been very fortunate to discover many of these acts through Midwest Beat magazine, published in Highland, Indiana. When not exploring the blues for Cosmik Debris, you can find me writing Midwest Blues Beat for editor Tom Lounges, who's a real go-to guy in the Northwest Indiana/Northeast Illinois music scene. One of my favorite blues releases this year has been from Little Johnny Moore, Workingman Blues. It's an apt title: Little Johnny plays over 200 gigs a year throughout Chicagoland with his UnKnown Blues Band. While he's got his regulars behind him, there's always a chance that he'll surprise you with guest players. I like this disc a lot 'cause it's live blues, just like you'd hear live at such venues as Oasis 160 in Chicago Heights or Rodney's in Highland, Indiana. Each time I listen to Little Johnny's Workingman's Blues CD, I enjoy Moore's original cuts like "Blues Is A Feeling" and "Strong Hearted Woman." Check out www.littlejohnnymoore.com for more original Chicago blues, Little Johnny style.
Billy King has released two CDs that could not be more different from each other. His first, Mean Woman Blues, is an electric blues attack that doesn't let up through a dozen cuts like "Natural Born Voodoo Man" and "Back to My Baby" with Patrick Doody on drums, Biscuit Miller on bass and Rusty Hall on keyboards. When not helping out local musicians like Billy, Patrick, Biscuit and Rusty play for the Lonnie Brooks Band, a mainstay of the Chicago blues scene for well over 25 years. Billy's latest release, Life Ain't Easy, is a quieter, down-home country blues record that includes several nods to swing, and in Billy's hands, it works. Both CDs, Mean Woman Blues and Life Ain't Easy, showcase a very versatile bluesman. For samples and more, go to www.billykingbluesman.com.
Last month, Willie Kent took home the W.C. Handy Awards hardware for Best Instrumentalist, Bass. This past year has been a busy one for one of the West Side's busiest bluesmen. Not only did he take home his sixth Handy Award, but his Blue Chicago CD, Comin' Alive, was that label's first solo artist CD. Willie has played with Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, and Little Walter, but on Comin' Alive, he's grown into his own blues man with a dozen prime cuts that showcase traditional electric blues, Chicago style. Willie and his Gents hold court at Blue Chicago on Clark Street every month, and this one-stop blues shop has produced a range of compilations like Mojo Mamas, The Golden Age of Blue Chicago, and Acoustic Blue Chicago. For more on Willie and this one-stop blues shop, go to www.bluechicago.com.
I've only scratched the surface of a handful of contemporary blues players in the greater Chicago area this month. I've left out the Chicago Blues Posse, the Chicago Blues Angels, the Steepwater Band, and many, many others. Until next month, virtually visit Steve Arvey, Little Johnny Moore, Billy King, and Willie Kent, and let me know what you think.
