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Bob Corritore All-Star Blues Sessions
Liner Notes
A look at the illustrious lineup whose
music separately and collectively graces this CD confirms quickly that "All-Star
Blues" is no exaggeration. Great artists associated with classic blues from Chicago,
Louisiana, Mississippi and other landmarks on the blues map are joined by talents who have
settled in the Phoenix, Arizona area where all this music was recorded. That point of
origin is because the common denominator is the harmonica playing and organizing of Bob
Corritore, a Scottsdale, Arizona resident who's earned his own All-Star status as a
player/manager and utility man: musician, producer, former record label owner, host of the
weekly radio show "Those Lowdown Blues" on KJZZ since 1983, talent coordinator
bringing a steady stream of top notch blues acts to The Rhythm Room since 1991 and
all-around blues evangelist and Man Who Makes Things Happen. Phoenix didn't know what it
was in for when Corritore moved there from the Chicago area in 1981, but Arizona and the
blues are better for it, and so are we with this compilation by blues masters living and
dead, familiar and obscure.
Born in Chicago in 1956, Corritore heard Muddy Waters' music at age 12 and was hooked on the blues for life. At 18 he started going to the city's blues clubs and sitting in. Knowledge and experience were eagerly gleaned from the veteran mainstays of the scene who recognized his sincerity and enthusiasm and offered mentoring and harp tutoring. He formed Blues Over Blues Records, recording gritty harmonica albums by Little Willie Anderson and Big Leon Brooks which were later reissued by Earwig. In 1981 he moved to Phoenix and found his livelihood as a harp player. Soon afterward he lured bluesman Louisiana Red to the vicinity and recorded an album by Red which was issued on Earwig some fifteen years later. Drummer and vocalist Chico Chism is another local presence who moved to Arizona at Corritore's behest. In between a blur of steady live work, Corritore has contributed to releases by Texas Red, Lucius and Lamar Parr and some anthologies, and become "the area's leading bluesicologist". With all his varied endeavors on behalf of the blues, he still views himself as a harp player first and foremost.
In Arizona, Corritore has taken many of the local and national artists with whom he has been associated into the studio, and ALL-STAR BLUES SESSIONS presents highlights from 1986-98. Distinction, diversity and empathetic settings characterize every track. No crossover here; we're talking about The Real Thing, skillfully and lovingly recorded and compiled. Corritore shows that his playing is accomplished and flexible enough to sound at home with all the ensembles he has gathered together to record, so that both he and the featured artists are well showcased. Clearly not all of that brightness in the southwest is the desert sun; some of it is the blues torch burning where Bob Corritore has carried it from Chicago along with his harmonicas. There's a lot more in the vaults from where this set emerged, so maybe the release of future compilations can become a highly anticipated annual event like other All-Star galas. Meanwhile, one gathering of this magnitude is more than worth the price of admission!
--- Dick Shurman
Track Listings
| 1) Hip Shakin'
(3:45) (J.B. Hutto / Sue-Kay / Bug Music / BMI) Lil' Ed Williams - Guitar, Vocals Recorded March 6, 1997 at Tempest Recorders, Tempe, AZ |
2) Out On The
Road (3:47) (J.R. Laney / Arc Music Corp. / BMI) Jimmy Rogers - Guitar, Vocals Recorded October 13, 1992 at Vintage Recorders,
Phoenix, AZ |
| 3) Naptown Blues (3:19) (W. Montgomery / Taggie Music / BMI) Robert Jr. Lockwood - Guitar Recorded April 28, 1986 at El Dorado Studio, Tempe, AZ |
4) Everybody's Fishin' (2:48) (M. McCoy / P.D.) Henry
Gray - Piano, Vocals Recorded January 18, 1996 at Tempest Recorders,
Tempe, AZ |
| 5) Hear That Rumblin' (2:23) (J.L. Williamson / P.D.) Clarence Edwards - Guitar, Vocals Recorded October 30, 1990 at Vintage Recorders,
Phoenix, AZ |
6) Five Long Years (4:07) (E. Boyd / Fredrick Music / BMI) Chico Chism - Drums, Vocals Recorded April 22, 1997 at Tempest Recorders, Tempe,
AZ |
| 7) How Many More Years (3:01) (C. Burnett / Arc Music / BMI) Henry Gray -
Piano, Vocals Recorded October 18, 1997 at Tempest Recorders, Tempe,
AZ |
8) Goin' Down South (2:28) (R.L. Burnside / Tradition Music Co. / BMI) R.L. Burnside - Guitar, Vocals Recorded November 12, 1992 at Vintage Recorders,
Phoenix, AZ |
| 9) Cool Calm Collected (2:52) (B. Jolivette / Excellorec / BMI) King Karl - Vocals Recorded January 1, 1998 at Tempest Recorders, Tempe,
AZ |
10) Coal Black Mare (3:50) (R. Crudup / P.D.) Clarence Edwards - Guitar, Vocals Recorded October 30, 1990 at Vintage Recorders,
Phoenix, AZ |
| 11) Little Girl (3:45) (E. McDaniel / Arc Music / BMI) Bo Diddley - Guitar, Vocals Recorded October 26, 1997 at Tempest Recorders, Tempe,
AZ |
12) Tired Of Being Alone (1:51) (J. Dotson / Kid Man Music / BMI) Jimmy Dotson - Guitar, Vocals Recorded October 30, 1990 at Vintage Recorders,
Phoenix, AZ |
| 13) Showers Of Rain (3:27) (H. Gray / Excellorec / BMI) Henry Gray - Piano, Vocals Recorded January 18, 1996 at Tempest Recorders, Tempe,
AZ |
14) I Had My Fun (3:17) (J. Oden / Arc MusicCorp. / BMI) Chico Chism - Drums, Vocals Recorded November 25, 1992 at Apache Tracks, Tempe, AZ |
| 15) Jennie Bea (3:36) (D. Spells / Kid Man Music / BMI) Dino Spells - Guitar, Vocals Recorded November 28, 1987 at Pantheon Studios,
Scottsdale, AZ |
16) Nappy's Driftin' Blues
(8:09) (Adapted from Charles Brown's Driftin' Blues by Brown, Moore & Williams / Aladdin Music / BMI, new lyrics by N. Brown / Kid Man Music / BMI) Nappy Brown - Vocals Recorded March 27, 1998 at Tempest Recorders, Tempe,
AZ |
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