Professor Longhair - Live in Chicago (Live) '2016

Tracks list

A masterful pianist whose style was a rich mixture of blues, Latin, and
Afro-Caribbean influences, Professor Longhair's music was as singular as New
Orleans, the city he called home. Born Roy Byrd, Longhair was a hero in the
Crescent City through the '50s, but it wasn't until the early '70s that he began
receiving the recognition he deserved elsewhere. Longhair began performing
outside Louisiana for the first time, and by 1976 he'd been playing across the
country and all over the U.K. and Europe when he and his band made their way to
Chicago to play a set at the Chicago Folk Festival. Longhair's performance was
recorded for broadcast by a local radio station, and after 40 years, the set has
finally been given commercial release under the title Live in Chicago. The
surviving recording is somewhat less than ideal -- here, Fess was given an
electric keyboard that doesn't suit his style as well as an authentic grand
piano, and Billy Gregory's lead guitar, while expert, seems better suited to
blues rock than the animated New Orleans rhythms that defined Longhair's music.
But the rhythm section of Julius Farmer on bass and Earl Gordon on drums is
strong and sympathetic, and once Longhair and the band lock in, the joyous
stride of his piano and his nonchalant vocal style work their magic, and for
sheer joy there is very little that can beat Professor Longhair on a good day.
Featuring just seven songs and clocking in at less than half-an-hour, Live in
Chicago delivers a small dose of a fine thing, but given the relatively small
size of Fess' body of recorded work, any decently recorded live performance is
worth cherishing, and fans of the New Orleans legend will be glad to have this
document of his visit to Chicago in their collections.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Professor Longhair - Intro (Live) (0:20)
1.02 - Professor Longhair - Doin' It (Live) (4:55)
1.03 - Professor Longhair - Big Chief (Live) (3:49)
1.04 - Professor Longhair - Every Day I Have the Blues (Live) (4:49)
1.05 - Professor Longhair - Mess Around (Live) (4:53)
1.06 - Professor Longhair - Mardi Gras in New Orleans (Live) (3:02)
1.07 - Professor Longhair - Got My Mojo Working (Live) (4:36)
1.08 - Professor Longhair - Fess's Boogie (Live) (2:49)

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