J.T. Brown
Windy City Boogie
(Delmark DE-714)
Sometimes in today's world of blues, with
its bevy of teenage guitar slingers, one forgets that there was a time and place where the
blues revolved around vocals, piano and horns. This CD by tenor sax player and vocalist,
J. T. Brown, is the place to return to those other times.
Recorded during five different sessions between 1950 and 1959 Windy City Boogie brings
20 rollicking and rolling blues tracks back to life. These songs were originally recorded
for the United, J.O.B., and Atomic-H record labels. J.T. Brown is backed by some of
Chicago's finest session players of the '50s. Little Brother Montgomery, Bob Call,
Lafayette Leake and Sunnyland Slim are all featured on piano. Ransom Knowling, Big
Crawford and Willie Dixon on bass, along with Fred Below, S.P. Leary and others on drums
make a fine supporting rhythm section.
J.T. Brown, who backed up such musicians as Roosevelt Sykes, St. Louis Jimmy, Eddie
Boyd and Elmore James, grabs the lead on this collection with both his horn and vocals. As
guitarist Jody Williams once said, "[J.T. Brown is] the only man I know could make a
horn sound like a nanny goat you could be half a block away and hear that horn."
From the up-tempo "Rock-em" to the sad "House Party Groove" this CD
is a very nice sample of different ways of the blues that Chicago offered during the
1950s. The title track is as fresh today, with the revival of swing and jump music, as it
was when recorded in July of 1951 during United's first ever day of sessions.
This CD is one of about 13 that Delmark Records has recently reissued from the original
United and States record label recording sessions. One can only hope that there are lots
more on the way.
- Scott Ferman -
Southwest Blues CD Review - March 1999
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1999 Reviews - available at our store
