Chicago shaped Jimmy and Syl Johnson, and the brothers stayed grounded here even as they became global heroes. The singer-guitarists moved up from Mississippi after World War II and played blues and R&B, carving out their own spaces within those sounds. They had outwardly contrasting personalities and their careers took different paths; they worked together […]
Tag: Delmark
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Ari Brown belongs in Chicago’s canon of great tenor saxophonists
Ari Brown hasn’t often sought the spotlight, but his blend of bebop rigor and avant-garde daring puts him on par with the likes of Fred Anderson and Von Freeman.
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Blues guitarist Lurrie Bell beat mental illness to build a thriving career
By the early 90s Lurrie Bell didn’t even own a guitar anymore, but now he’s got a shelf full of Blues Music Awards.
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The Fat Babies wring the kitsch out of trad jazz
Hardworking Chicago preservationists the Fat Babies play with the vitality and commitment to make antique songs feel brand-new.
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Louis Myers cofounded one of the great backing bands in the blues
The guitar and harmonica master from the Aces played with Junior Wells, Little Walter, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and many more.
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Otis Rush and his searing guitar immortalized the west-side Chicago blues sound
Rush is hardly obscure, but the Secret History of Chicago Music couldn’t let the death of such a powerful and influential artist pass in silence.
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Underappreciated guitarist Johnny B. Moore links Delta blues with the electric postwar Chicago sound
Johnny B. Moore launched his career as a full-time bluesman in 1975 with the great Koko Taylor, and he’s still kicking today.
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Chicago bass clarinetist Jason Stein isn’t kidding around
Not even arena gigs with his famous sister, comedian Amy Schumer, can tempt Jason Stein from his drive to make better jazz.
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At age 88, late-blooming guitarist Jimmy Johnson enters his fifth decade in the blues
Jimmy Johnson—older brother of Syl—started out playing soul, but he came into his own as a bluesman in the late 1970s.
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Rowdy bluesman Detroit Junior used to crawl under his piano while he played
Detroit Junior worked with Little Mack Simmons and Howlin’ Wolf, but it was his deep catalog of original songs that made him beloved in the blues world.
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Luther Allison was the Jimi Hendrix of blues guitar
Guitarist Luther Allison learned his craft in Chicago, but he spent much of his career in Europe when American interest in the blues waned.
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Will Chicago’s most daring and virtuosic jazz singer finally get the recognition she deserves?
Dee Alexander has earned international acclaim, but fame has eluded her. Her great new album might change that.
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The Secret History of Chicago Music: Eddie C. Campbell
Blues guitarist Eddie C. Campbell needs help getting home after a heart attack and stroke on the road in Germany.
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The Secret History of Chicago Music: Tail Dragger
The Secret History of Chicago: a Howlin’ Wolf imitator who did time for shooting a fellow bluesman dead.
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Three Beats: Jazz great Eddie Johnson gets a posthumous CD release; experimental duo Cleared celebrates the cassette; Rockford emo band Joie de Vivre says au revoir
A posthumous CD release for the great Eddie Johnson Tenor saxophonist Eddie Johnson, who died last year on April 7 at age 89, was one of Chicago’s greatest jazz musicians, a pure embodiment of the classic swing he’d grown up playing. He only made two albums under his own name, and the better of the […]