Dave Specter — “Live at SPACE” — Delmark Records
Dave Specter has been a fixture in the Delmark Records blues community, and the blues world at large for 30 years and counting.
Specter appears on over 50 albums and DVDs as a guitarist, bandleader and/or producer, with 14 (including his latest) as a leader or co-leader at Delmark.
Since live blues shows always kick things up a notch, why not a live album for this veteran guitarist? So, his latest is “Live at SPACE,” a live show captured at SPACE, a recording and performance venue in Evanston, Ill. And the results are predictably enthusiastic and enjoyable.
The band is Specter’s razor-sharp quartet: himself on vocals and guitar, Brother John Kattke on vocals and keyboards, Rodrigo Mantovani on bass and Marty Binder on drums. They’re so tight, they can afford to sound vibrantly loose in this spirited blend of originals, covers and instrumentals.
Everything kicks off with an original instrumental, “Rumba & Tonic”, an enticing cocktail of Latin rhythms spiced with a little New Orleans flair. Kattke dazzles on piano and organ. The instrumental “Alley Walk” shifts into a bluesy gear and driving guitar. “Homework” features Specter’s crisp vocals on this Otis Rush song from 1962.
“Blues From the Inside Out” is a 7 1/2-minute blues shuffle with Specter growling the vocals in front of sizzling guitar licks dueling with Kattke’s hot keys. “On Your Way Down” is a 1972 Allen Toussaint song, as Kattke joins Specter on vocals, as he adds a lyrical guitar interlude to a thoughtful message: “Since the beginning it hasn’t changed yet / it’s the same friends you meet on the way up, you’ll see on the way down.”
“March Through the Darkness” adds a socially conscience note with an anthemic feel: “March through the darkness, don’t ever slow down / march through the darkness until you see the light….” A trip through sweet home Chicago blues drops a basketful of historic names as “Chicago Style” plays out in a terrific guitar-fueled shuffle. Freddie King’s 1971 classic “Same Old Blues” gets a lively Specter update with tough guitar and tougher vocals. A gorgeously long guitar solo highlights the track.
Specter and the band get a chance to stretch out on another instrumental, “The Stinger,” before dusting off the mid-’30s “Deep Ellem Blues” by country artists Bob and Joe Shelton. The Specter/Kattke duet carries an appropriate old-timey feel reminiscent of the Grateful Dead jam-like version, making it one of my favorite tracks.
Specter takes a splendid deep-blue turn with “Bluebird Blues,” subbing a wicked guitar for the original harp lead on John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson’s 1937 recording. “Ponchatoula Way” is a New Orleans gumbo of bluesy rhythms and vocals in an ode to the tiny Louisiana town. The closer is “Ridin’ High,” another instrumental with Specter updating the Magic Sam song and Kattke’s organ driving it all home.
Dave Specter’s “Live at SPACE” is a thoroughly enjoyable contemporary blues journey from a polished veteran of the Chicago blues scene for decades. He’s absorbed its eclectic influences into his own unique style, and we’re all the better for it. Enjoy his music soon and often!
A note on the song “Bluebird Blues”: I wanted to make it clear that the Sonny Boy Williamson mentioned above, and in the credits below, is the first and “real” Sonny Boy — John Lee Williamson. The current blues world, I believe, doesn’t know enough about him, and too often assumes that Alex Miller, who performed under the assumed name of Sonny Boy Williamson for most of his life, is the same artist. Miller is sometimes referred to as Sonny Boy II, but I think that the original Williamson, who was quite an innovator on the blues harp, too often goes unrecognized. Congrats to Specter for highlighting one of his songs.
“Blues From the Inside Out” from the album:
Tracklist:
Rumba & Tonic 5:57 Specter (SpecTone Music, BMI)
Alley Walk 5:54 Specter (SpecTone Music, BMI)
Homework 5:09 Dave Clark, Al Perkins (Songs of Universal Inc, BMI)
Blues From the Inside Out 7:33 Specter/Brichta (SpecTone Music, Brichta Music, BMI)
On Your Way Down 5:47 Allen Toussaint (Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp, BMI)
March Through the Darkness 3:57 Specter (SpecTone Music BMI)
Chicago Style 5:56 Specter/Brichta (SpecTone Music, Brichta Music, BMI)
Same Old Blues 5:13 Don Nix (Irving Music Inc. Muldoon Music, BMI)
The Stinger 5:27 Specter (SpecTone Music, BMI)
Deep Elem Blues 6:10 Bob Shelton, Joe Shelton (Fort Knox Music Inc, Trio Music Inc, BMI)
Bluebird Blues 7:17 Sonny Boy Williamson (Arc Music, BMI)
Ponchatoula Way 6:55 Specter/Brichta (SpecTone Music, Brichta Music, BMI)
Ridin’ High 5:23 Samuel Maghett (Leric Music Inc, Conrad Music, BMI)
Blues Roadhouse 