Horowitz Chicago

Following magnetic performances in Taps (1981) and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), young actor Sean Penn sealed his reputation as one of his generation's most gifted performers with his gritty star turn in Bad Boys (1983), an entertaining tale of teen hoodlums in juvenile lock-up. Penn plays Mick O'Brien, a Chicago street tough who's planning on ripping off drug dealer Paco Moreno (Esai Morales). When the scam goes bad and his partner Carl (Alan Ruck) is slain, Mick flees from the cops in his car and accidentally runs over Paco's little brother, killing the boy. Sent to juvenile hall, Mick encounters a violent prison society run by the murderous trustees Viking (Clancy Brown) and Tweety (Robert Lee Rush).

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It shouldn't come as a surprise to any fan of Nick Moss that a band signed to his Blue Bella label and produced by him would have a gritty, tough and raw approach similar to his own. The Chicago-based five-piece Kilborn Alley Blues Band recorded its first album in only three days, so the feel of Put It in the Alley is as immediate and uncompromising as a live show. Songs shift moods from the basic, stripped down Windy City blues of "The Blues Takes Me In" to the Southern-fried R&B of "Thousand Miles." Lead singer/guitarist/frontman Andrew Duncanson sounds somewhat like a cross between Wet Willie's Jimmy Hall and early Boz Scaggs, using his soulful croon to soften the attack of the band's gruffer sound. But it's harp player Joe Asselin, who has surely listened to his Little Walter albums, that adds feral heat, especially on the seven-minute slow blues "The Breakaway." All but one of the songs is original, and although none of them reinvent the blues wheel, they are all solid vehicles for the band to lay into.

Proving that 2002's appropriately titled Return of a Legend was no one-off fluke, semi-legendary Chicago guitarist Jody Williams cements his comeback with this invigorating follow-up. Producer Dick Shurman, who worked on the previous disc, frames Williams' expressive voice and clean, jazzy guitar in a subtle, frills-free environment that brings out his best. The album's 13 originals (and one Sam Cooke cover) showcase Williams' talents as a fluid, understated, yet soulful guitarist; witty songwriter; and, more importantly, a singer of surprising passion. Esteemed horn arranger Willie Henderson also returns from the last album to add his arrangements to four tracks, highlighted by the simmering, staccato touches on a remake of Williams' "Hideout," originally recorded in 1962. Part Freddie King's "Hideaway," part Earl King's "Come On," it's an accurate, updated example of Williams' six-string prowess. Although the majority of the tracks are straightforward Chicago shuffles and slow blues, the guitarist infuses his upbeat personality to the proceedings, which makes the album so consistently refreshing.

Chicago blues pianist Eddie Boyd only released one album for Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label (7936 South Rhodes), so in addition to those 12 tracks, this reissue scrapes together another four rarities from around the same period (1967-1968) and two from 1960 to expand the song listing to 18. The bulk of this recording was laid down in a single day, a situation that kept the energy flowing in the studio. This was producer Vernon's second session with Boyd – two leftover tunes from his 1967 Decca album open the disc – so he was acquainted with the bluesman's method of working. The project was originally credited to Eddie Boyd with Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, and indeed three quarters of that band (Green, Fleetwood, and McVie) provide backing duties for the majority of these tracks. The Mac, which had started to experience their first shot of stardom in the U.K., are in typically fine form with Green's slashing, quicksilver leads a particular treat. There are also vocal similarities between Green (who doesn't sing here) and Boyd, showing that this session was a two-way street.