ED Gerhard : Sunnyland (2006)

JSP, one of the U.K.'s most active historical reissue labels, presents an outstanding postwar Chicago blues anthology packed with essential recordings made between 1947 and 1955 by Sunnyland Slim & His Pals. Out of the 104 tracks (not 97 as stated on the front of the packaging), 60 are "by" Sunnyland Slim; the other 44 were released under the names of Johnny Shines, Robert Lockwood, Floyd Jones, Leroy Foster, J.B. Lenoir, Jimmy Rogers, and St. Louis Jimmy. Sunnyland sat in on each of these dates; the enclosed discography denies his presence on the Johnny Shines date, although his piano is clearly audible…

With the recent loss of Detroit Jr. it becomes more acutely aware than ever that the piano blues is a dying art form. There's only a handful of old timers keeping the tradition alive such as Pinetop Perkins, Big Joe Duskin, Henry Gray and Ernest Lane. Barrelhouse Chuck represents one of the few younger generation pianists (he's 48) and has been well schooled in the art as he demonstrates on the fabulous "Slowdown Sundown."
Chuck has paid his dues the time honored way by apprenticing with piano masters such as Sunnyland Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Lafayette Leake and Little Brother Montgomery. Chuck spent 10 years studying with Sunnyland who he calls "the great-granddaddy of all the blues piano players." He also formed a special bond with piano legend Little Brother Montgomery. He honed his craft working and recording with a who's who of Chicago legends like Louis Myers, Jimmy Rogers, Jimmy Dawkins, Billy Boy Arnold, Detroit Jr. and Big Smokey Smothers and many, many others. Along the way Chuck has released several fine recordings under his own name such as 1999's fine "Salute To Sunnyland Slim" and 2002's strong "Prescription For The Blues." "Slowdown Sundown", on his own Viola label, finds Chuck in peak form playing both solo and with an all-star cast of Chicago bluesmen…..

Barrelhouse Chuck's tribute to piano great Sunnyland Slim was one of the last recording sessions by longtime Chicago drummer S.P. Leary and also included Muddy Waters' former rhythm section of Calvin "Fuzz" Jones and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith.

Combining sessions that blues pianist Sunnyland Slim and blues guitarist Johnny Shines recorded separately on the same day in Chicago in 1968 for the Blue Horizon imprint, this interesting little set shows two blues veterans doing what it was they did, which was, in part, to push and pull the Delta blues one small step closer to being in the modern urban world. The Slim sides, several of which are new to digital disc, are a bit more interesting than the Shines sides, but only by degree. Slim's songs can appear on the surface to be tossed-off exercises in the usual blues clichés, but they were actually carefully written, while Shines worked similar territory, giving old blues figures a slightly ironic twist. Since both played at one time or another with Robert Johnson, and both straddle the old and new worlds of the blues as it transfigured into an electric and urban form, it makes perfect sense to stick these two sessions together in one package.