Featured artist: OTIS SPANN
Otis Spann helped to define the
sounds of post-war era blues. An integral member of Muddy Waters’
band from 1951 to 1969, Spann proved himself an incomparable sideman
with that most rare and remarkable ability to leave his indelible
stamp on the most raucous of numbers. His thunderous and gumptious
playing proclaimed itself even above the din of his bandmates’
amplified instruments while on quieter, more contemplative pieces,
he inventively filled up all the space afforded him with the most
delicate caressing of the keys. To call him versatile doesn’t
begin to do him justice.
Here, on Spann Blues,
from his The Blues Is Where It's At (1966, Bluesway), we
hear him at the top of his game as he confidently takes the reins,
backed by fellow Waters alumni Sam Lawhorn (guitar, 1st solo),
Luther Johnson (guitar, 2nd solo), George Smith (harmonica), Mac
Arnold (bass) and Francis Clay (drums). Folks, it just doesn't
get any better than this.
**********
SIX DEGREES OF
BLUES: Conceived
and written by Emanuel Pordes
With
a curiosity that begins in the delta and extends to the stratosphere,
Emanuel Pordes is a blues lover for whom the addiction to 12 bar
has no downside. Where there's good blues to be had, whether it
be old, lost, neglected, co-opted, or buried under the charts,
that is where he likes to be. He
produced Six Degrees of Blues at WGRE 91.5
