Local label the Sirens has long upheld the tradition of Chicago blues piano, and in the past decade or so it’s begun exploring the neglected world of gospel piano as well. This show features three artists in the Sirens stable, two with new releases. Elsa Harris’s I Thank God is a mostly instrumental collection of […]
Author Archives: James Porter
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Bacon fat, corn liquor, and tail feathers: remembering R&B legend Andre Williams
R&B legend Andre Williams influenced generations of rockers and rappers—and his decades-long comeback ended only with his death at 82.
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La Luz would be a rock ’n’ roll force to reckon with in any era of music
Had La Luz been around during the garage revival of the early 2000s, they would’ve done a great job saving us from all the monotone Strokes imitators. But regardless of which era they emerged in, they’d have been able to make it on their own terms as a rock ’n’ roll band, not as trend […]
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Hawaiian master guitarists bring their warm island sounds to a cold Chicago winter
George Kahumoku Jr., Nathan Aweau, and Kawika Kahiapo are masterful slack-key guitarists whose music embodies Hawaiian traditions, and between the three of them, they certainly have the accolades and awards to prove it—Kahumoku, for instance, is a four-time Grammy winner. Their six- and 12-string skills are unquestionable, and between their playing and their distinct ways […]
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Get your mind warped at the tenth anniversary of Chicago Psych Fest
For ten years now, Chicago Psych Fest has been warping minds. Organized by musician and artist (and longtime Reader contributor) Steve Krakow and local artist Matt Ginsberg, the three-day festival is much like the classic shows held at the Fillmore (in San Francisco and NYC), the Kinetic Playground (in Chicago), the Grande Ballroom (Detroit), and […]
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Luke Winslow-King traded New Orleans for Michigan, but his music retains some southern charm
The influence of gospel music on singer-songwriter Luke Winslow-King is obvious, even when he’s playing an up-tempo song with a title such as “Swing That Thing.” Though King doesn’t approach it in a superficial, frantic, tambourine-banging way, if you’re familiar at all with southern gospel you can easily identify its hallmarks in his use of […]
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Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets smartly merge their disparate musical styles and showmanship
Though at first glance the matching suits and Mexican wrestling masks favored by Los Straitjackets might point to the contrary, the Nashville instrumental rock group are anything but a one-note gimmick. If their novelties got your attention, more power to them, but with or without the visuals, Los Straitjackets do a fantastic job extending the […]
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JD McPherson returns to his rockabilly and R&B roots on Socks
JD McPherson originally busted out on the roots-rock scene in 2010 with his single “North Side Gal.” The lead track of his debut album, Signs & Signifiers, which was produced in Chicago by bassist-guitarist Jimmy Sutton, the single features strutting rhythms and slangy lyrics that made it a mild radio staple and a must-have for […]
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The weirdness of R&B icon Swamp Dogg still shines bright—even with Auto-Tune
Jerry Williams (formerly known as Little Jerry Williams) has been knocking out bizarre R&B records for 48 years under the name Swamp Dogg. Since his 1970 debut on Canyon, Total Destruction to Your Mind, he’s taken his music down some weird back roads: a black-liberation song with an admitted Ku Klux Klan member on banjo […]
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R&B and soul legend Booker T. Jones brings his diverse grooves to SPACE
Booker T. Jones, most famous for fronting iconic R&B/soul band Booker T. & the MGs, is a much more diverse musician than people give him credit for. A child prodigy who picked up an assortment of woodwinds and keys growing up, he became one of the most accomplished musicians in the Stax Records stable in […]
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Jazz guitarist James Blood Ulmer brings his harmolodic stylings to any genre
James Blood Ulmer is quite an exceptional musician. As the first guitarist to play with legendary jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman in the 1970s, he adapted harmolodics, a style of free jazz pioneered by Coleman involving simultaneous improvisations on a single line of melody, to the six strings and came up with an angular style with […]
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Dom Flemons carries on the musical traditions and spirit of early black cowboys
Modern-day musicologist Dom Flemons first appeared in the spotlight in the 2000s as a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a group of young black musicians keeping the African-American string-band tradition alive. After winning a Grammy in 2010 for Best Traditional Folk Recording, the original members of the group began to go their separate ways […]
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Chicagoan Robbie Fulks and country stalwart Linda Gail Lewis join forces on Wild! Wild! Wild!
When most rockabilly artists make comeback albums, they always seem to include at least one song that looks back on the way things were at the dawn of their genre. Carl Perkins probably did this more than anybody, reminding everyone that He Was There When Rock ‘n’ Roll Started. The title track of Wild! Wild! […]
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Barrence Whitfield and the Woggles bring the scream and shout to Chicago
During the garage-rock boom of the 90s and 00s, the Woggles made frequent visits to Chicago from their Atlanta home base. Though their stepped-up twist beats and occasional choreography drew comparisons to the Fleshtones, it was clear that the quartet were mapping out their own path. As the millennium has progressed, the Woggles have been […]
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Nikka Costa sings pop and soul standards with an orchestral treatment
Nikka Costa, daughter of celebrated arranger/producer Don Costa (and goddaughter of Frank Sinatra) had a minor buzz going in the 2000s with a couple of albums on the Virgin label: Everybody Got Their Something and Can’tneverdidnothin’. This was when the whole neosoul genre was coming on hard and heavy; those two albums, with their nods […]