Chicago [1979] Chicago 13

Chicago Blues Session! features a session pianist Willie Mabon cut on Independence Day 1979 with guitarist Hubert Sumlin, guitarist Eddie Taylor, bassist Aron Burton and drummer Casey Jones. The album was originally released on the German L&R label, mainly because American labels were shunning the blues. That could be the only reason this album wasn't released at the time, since it's a nice, straightahead Chicago blues record. There are several Mabon originals, all of them strong and memorable, plus several Willie Dixon tracks and a Howlin' Wolf cut. That Howlin' Wolf song is one of a handful of tributes to Chicago blues legends - the others are to Jimmy Reed and Willie Dixon - but the true tribute is the spirit and passion the group puts into their music. That's what makes the album a worthwhile listen for serious fans of Chicago blues.

Homesick James was an American blues musician known for his mastery of the slide guitar. He worked with his cousin, Elmore James, and with Sonny Boy Williamson II. The year of his birth is uncertain. He stated that he was born in 1905, 1910, or 1914, while his union records give 1924. His actual birth name has given as James Williamson or John Henderson. He developed a self-taught style of slide guitar through playing at local dances in his teens. He may have first recorded for RCA Victor in 1937, but this is also unconfirmed, and by 1938 may have begun playing electric guitar. His first known recordings were in 1952 for Chance Records, recording the tracks "Lonesome Ole Train" and "Homesick", which gave him his stage name.

One of the greatest of all Chicago bluesmen, vocalist, guitarist and harp player Bill Boy Arnold made his recording debut in 1952 and played harmonica on Bo Diddley's massive 1955 hit, "I'm A Man." A prolific songwriter, Arnold's songs have been covered by many artists including the influential English blues rock group, The Yardbirds. Arnold's career has spanned well over 50 years and he still continues to write and record new material. Presented here is Arnold's classic 1979 release, "Checkin' It Out," featuring nearly all original compositions, except for a pair of Little Walter tunes. The band is Billy Boy Arnold (vocals, harmonica); Tony S. McPhee (guitar); Wilbur Campbell (drums); Alan Fish (bass).

Bruckner did not assign a number to this Symphony that has been ascribed the number 0 "Die Nullte". He wrote it after his Symphony No. 1 in C minor (1866) and his sketches of an aborted Symphony (also 1869) in Bb major. The melodic structure, although familiar to modern listeners, was such a radical departure from mainstream Romantic Era Symphonies that it lead to criticism from the conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Felix Otto Dessoff. Consequently Bruckner suffered a crisis in confidence, and this piece, (amongst others) was never performed in his lifetime.

Countless legions of blues fans around the world can attest to the greatness of Buddy Guy. If you're a fan that has listened to Buddy's recordings, but have never got to see him live and in person you've been deprived of the "other-worldly" charisma and bond that Buddy magically creates with his audience. Many talented musicians can play, but they don't interact with the crowd. Some don't even open their eyes half the time, and believe it or not, though they like to play, they'd rather play in a recording studio without an audience. Not so for Mr. Buddy Guy! He is not only an unmatched blues singer and guitar player, but he is also an unrivaled entertainer. He paces and prowls from one end of the stage to the next like a caged lion……

Solti's interpretations held more than surface excitement. In conducting Beethoven, for example, he long held that the symphonies should be played with all their repeats to maintain their structural integrity, and he carefully rethought his approach to tempo, rhythm, and balance in those works toward the end of his life. Solti began as a pianist, commencing his studies at age six and making his first public appearance at 12. When he was 13 he enrolled at Budapest's Franz Liszt Academy of Music, studying piano mainly with Dohnányi and, for a very short time, Bartók. He also took composition courses with Kodály.

Happily, it is not the responsibility of this review to address in detail the train wreck that was the 1979 film adaptation of the stage musical Hair. A complete misfire conceived by a screenwriter, Michael Weller, and a director, Czech expatriate Milos Forman, who did not seem to have the slightest familiarity with hippies, the '60s, America, or even Broadway, the movie was miscast with supposedly bankable young film stars of the day (Treat Williams, John Savage, Beverly d'Angelo), and the essentially plotless libretto of the stage version was replaced by a contrived Hollywood script in a textbook example of how not to do an adaptation.