Pinetop Perkins‘ final recording sessions for his Grammy-winning album, Joined At The Hip, took place in Chicago at JoyRide Studio by Blaise Barton and mixed at Tone Zone Recording by Michael Freeman. Last fall, Freeman commented on those recording sessions in an interview with Grammy365.com. “I worked on a new record for Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, both Muddy Waters Band alumni. Pinetop will be 97 this July and Willie is well into his 70s and, together with their touring band, I just marveled at how vital they all were on session. Great recordings to me are all performance oriented. You just cannot contrive a truly great, human feel or a groove with anything electronic. It’s all about the players and their ability to lock into a pocket that just screams, ‘Listen to me or dance with me or whatever you’d like to do, but you can’t put me down”

Perkins moved to Chicago in 1958, and after an extended sabbatical from the music business, he joined Muddy Waters’ band in 1968 on piano. He began his solo career in the late ’70s until his death last month.

Joined At The Hip, just released last year on Telarc, won the Grammy for Best Blues Live Performance in February.

Studebaker John was at Studio VMR in Brookfield working on his new CD with Don Griffin engineering . . . Senay Jones was in cutting some vocals and Rev. Smith was at VMR for some mastering.

Tim Larson & The Owner/Operators are releasing their new record, A New Deal. A former member of the acclaimed Irish band The Drovers, Larson draws from influences as diverse as John Lee Hooker, Waylon Jennings, Nick Cave, and Siouxsie & The Banshees, combining the layered sonics of shoegaze with warm acoustic instruments to frame songs about the down and out, accompanied by the Owner/Operators.

The band settled in last year at the Belmont Distillery in Chicago to record basic tracks before moving to BobDog Studios in Oak Park for rhythm tracks, mixing, and mastering. Larson produced, layering a plethora of tracks incorporating guitars, mandolins, slide guitar, and lap steel to create a sound that is two-dimensional: at low volume the sound is Americana in spirit
– crank it up, and the wall of sound kicks into gear and transforms it into a shoegaze affair. Larson explains, “We tried to make the record bigger sounding without using a lot of effects.”

The record-release parties are April 8th at Maria’s Pack-aged Goods in Bridgeport, and the 15th at Beat Kitchen.

Local metal act Kastasyde has posted a brand new track, entitled “Release,” for streaming. It was recorded and mixed in December 2010 with noted producer/engineer Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Minsk). The track will appear on the group’s third album, which is scheduled for a late 2011 release.

Drummer Terry Keating (Satya Graha, Occasional Stray, Simian Hit Patrol) has been finishing the mixing of his solo debut at Carterco Recording in Chicago. Keating self-produced while Jaime Carter engineered.

Hey Studiophiler: To get your studio or band listed in “Studiophile,” just email info on who you’re recording or who’s recording you to ed [at] illinoisentertainer.com, subject Studiophile, or fax (773) 751-5051. We reserve the right to edit or omit submissions for space. Deadline for May 2011 Issue is April 15th.

The fall traditionally signals back to school, work, and more activity than the lazy days of summer usually demands. Well the blues has stepped it up as well, with a slew of recent releases and reissues from the masters.

For any blues guitar fan, the remastered, expanded version of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s 1984 classic, Couldn’t Stand The Weather (Epic/Legacy), is a must listen but it’s also an essential for anyone even slightly interested in the blues. This two-disc set crisply documents the breadth of Vaughan’s dazzling talent, from his stylish versions of blues standards to evocative originals. The reissue commemorates the 20th anniversary of the mournful passing of SRV in 1990, after an Alpine Valley show with Robert Cray and Eric Clapton. I was at that concert and it will forever be etched in my memory as a seminal music event. His charisma and stunning showmanship overshadowed both Cray and Clapton, illuminating the rising star power that was dashed too soon. As his second album, Couldn’t Stand The Weather’s eight tracks explored myriad influences, molding them into his own style. Coming so closely after 1983’s sizzling debut, Texas Flood, it has traditionally been underrated, but that might soon change.

Including the four session outtakes from the 1999 expanded version, the Legacy Edition adds four tunes from the posthumous The Sky Is Crying along with three previously unreleased alternate takes of that collection’s title track, “Stang’s Swang,” and “Boot Hill.” The real treat is the previously unreleased Stevie Ray and Double Trouble concert at the Montreal Spectrum in 1984. The heightened energy, the crazed crowd, the palpable emotion flying from Vaughan’s guitar chords are all there in vivid detail.

Another can’t-miss release from a legendary blues talent is Pinetop Perkins & Wille “Big Eyes” Smith’s Joined At The Hip (Telarc). Billed as 170 years of blues history on one album, these icons deliver all the skill and originality expected from 97-year-old and 74-year-old masters. One of the few living original Delta bluesmen, Perkins continues to tour and record and you hear it in the ease of his piano playing. Although Smith is most famous as Muddy Waters’ drummer, he has picked up the harp in recent years and the easygoing connection between the instruments and the two friends behind them makes this 13-track CD a pleasure to hear. Highlights include “Grown Up To Be A Man,” a classic Chicago blues shuffle, and a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Cut That Out,” supplied with an uptempo groove and a rare and laid-back call-and-response between Perkins and Smith. However, the album’s absolute standout is Perkins’ riveting interpretation of Thomas Dorsey’s (an original bluesman who created gospel music) church-going classic “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” The power of near-centenery Perkins singing quietly about being tired and weak, pleading for the strength of God, is not to be missed.

Mississippi Heat offer up tantalizing contemporary blues on their latest, Let’s Live It Up (Delmark). As the title indicates, there’s a party going on and the Mississippi Heat collective has invited everybody. Frontman Pierre Lacocque laces high-energy harp playing through 14 tracks of mostly original and pleasingly diverse tunes. The title track sets the tone for raucous goodtime music, underscored by Inetta Visor’s rich vocals and Carl Weathersby’s stinging guitar blasts. With a huge cast of 18 expert musicians on this CD, it’s really hard to go wrong but Rhonda Preston, a regular showstopper at Chicago’s Black Ensemble Theater, manages to up the ante on the entertaining “Daggers And Spears” and the funky groove of “Been Good To You,” bounces with Lacocque’s magical harp work.

Lucky Peterson’s long-awaited You Can Always Turn Around (Dreyfus Jazz) – his first in seven years – serves as a testament to his virtuoso gifts as well as the real transformative ability of the blues. This intimate, 11-track collection is perhaps the most moving and innovative blues CD of the year. A child prodigy discovered by Willie Dixon at 3-years old, Peterson has lived with the glory and the challenges that such a talent brings and you hear every nuance of his journey in his vocals as well as his piano and guitar playing. After struggling to break away from drug addiction for years, Peterson discovered that you can always turn around and change your life’s path. With a diverse array of tunes that shift from Robert Johnson to Lucinda Williams, he does exactly that with You Can Always Turn Around.

This is one CD that requires multiple listenings before even cracking its impressive surface. Peterson’s gripping vocals growl, chuckle, and wring the emotion out of every lyric, whether it’s foot-stomping bravado on Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” or an ethereal quality on Tom Waits’ “Trampled Rose.” Curtis Mayfield’s “Think” and the Nina Simone-popularized “I Wish I knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” also appear and he makes them his own, (the latter featuring his talented wife Tamara) mixing blues with doses of soul, gospel, and personality. Each track is gripping but the star is Peterson’s spirited treatment of Lucinda Williams’ “Atonement,” which draws chills with Peterson’s booming vocals and ferocious guitar licks. You will never forget this version, whether you know the original or not.

– Rosalind Cummings-Yeates

August and September brings a cavalcade of activities for blues fans. From a rare Pinetop Perkins appearance, to a Chicago blues challenge and classic record reissues, blues lovers can enjoy a blues blowout over the coming weeks.

Perkins, the 96-year-old piano master who represents the last great, traditional Delta bluesmen, played at Rosa’s Blues Lounge in August. Born Joe Willie Perkins in Belzoni, Mississippi, he started playing guitar and piano in honky-tonks at 12. After a fateful encounter with a knife-wielding chorus girl, he sustained severed tendons in his left arm, wiping out his guitar skills and leading to a piano focus from the ’40s on. Perkins built his skills with Sonny Boy Williamson on the “King Biscuit Time” radio show and touring with slide-guitar master Robert Nighthawk. After working with B.B. King and Earl Hooker throughout the South, he recorded his seminal version of Pinetop Smith’s “Pinteop’s Boogies Woogie” at Sun Records in 1953.

When Perkins replaced Otis Spann in Muddy Waters’ Band in 1969, he gained the acclaim for commanding the ivories that would increase with each decade. It wasn’t until he was in his 80s that Perkins decided to ditch his sideman label and go solo. For more than six decades, he has been the master blues and boogie pianist, garnering Grammy nominations, a lifetime-achievement award ,and a National Endowment For The Arts National Heritage Fellowship.

The artist represents the last living link to the golden age of post-war American blues, a time when the Delta acoustic and the Chicago electric met and merged. Any chance to hear a piece of this living history should never be missed. “Pinetop is one of the architects of the Chicago blues,” says Rosa’s owner Tony Manguillo. “He was behind the scenes creating the foundation and he helped set the standard for the Chicago blues sound. When it comes to Chicago blues, you can’t get any deeper than Pinetop.”

As far as the Chicago blues legacy goes, the Windy City will finally make its mark on the International Blues Challenge. The 26th-annual, Memphis-based competition between blues musicians from around the world has not included Chicago representation for more than a decade. Over the years, the contest has included acts from Nepal, Taiwan, Finland, and Croatia, but not one from the home of the blues. That’s mainly because musicians must be sponsored by a local blues foundation and, until last year, Chicago didn’t have one.

Now we have The Windy City Blues Society (www.windycityblues.org) and a shot at demonstrating Chicago blues power. The second leg of the Chicago Blues Challenge will unfold at Rosa’s on September 10th, when the winner from the first will square off against fresh competition. The final International Blues Challenge contest will kick off in Memphis, January 20th.

The WCBS will also sponsor monthly meet-ups for blues fans to gather and listen to their favorite music. According to society member Black Jack, the gatherings will solve several issues. “There are a lot of blues fans that are solo and don’t always have someone that they can go to the clubs with, so this gives them the opportunity to make and meet new blues friends and see some great shows,” he says. “We’re also trying to get more people to go to the shows especially since attendance at some clubs is thin or down at times.” New members can also join the Blues Society at meet-ups. Visit it online for times and locations.

Rabid blues-guitar fans like me will rejoice with two recent releases, but music lovers in general are bound to be happy. I attended Stevie Ray Vaughan’s last concert at Alpine Valley in 1990 and the energy and emotion from his performance will always haunt me. Traces of the same magical riffs echo throughout In Session (Stax), a 1983 reissue of a live recording of Albert King with SRV. King was one of Vaughn’s idols, as anyone who has listened to the Texas slinger’s first two albums can clearly discern.

In 1983, King was a towering blues legend and Vaughan was just breaking into the mainstream with a blistering turn on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” and the release of his acclaimed debut, Texas Flood. But King wasn’t even sure who Vaughan was until he walked into the studio and recognized him as “Little Stevie,” the skinny kid who hovered around every time King passed through Austin. The resulting recording is a demonstration of the mutual respect and fiery interplay. Fittingly, it is mostly King’s album, with Vaughan restraining his legendary showmanship for nuanced fretwork on “Call It Stormy Monday,” “Blues At Sunrise,” and “Don’t Lie To Me.” The only time Vaughan leads a song is on his signature “Pride & Joy,” when his fiery shuffle meets King’s thundering Flying V. This is supposed to be the only known recording of the two together and represents the master and star student well.

Tommy Castro released his 12th album, Hard Believer (Alligator), in August. A reliable mix of blues, rock, and R&B, the dozen tracks offer some solid grooves including the soulful title track and the retro “Monkey’s Paradise.”

– Rosalind Cummings-Yeates