ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Judi K On The Life Of A ... - Delmark Records

KOESTER’S COMMENTSBUYING RECORD COLLECTIONS on location is arduous. Wepay more if you bring them to the shop, saving us the haul.One acquisition not long ago surprised us. It included all kinds of78’s from the 40’s, remarkable because of the broad taste of thecollector: swing bands (as always), bop groups, trad groups and popsingers. Not much valuable jazz, but few people of his generationwould have the blues sides - by very obscure bluesmen — some Ihad never heard, most of which had sold so poorly that they haven’tbeen reissued - even in Europe! (Sorry, I can’t list them-they’realready gone. We can’t seem to price blues records high enough tobuild up a big inventory.)This was the collection of Thomas Scott Cadden, who diedNov.2,2007 at the age of 83. He was born December 2, 1923 inBaxter Springs, Kansas, worked in continuity and publicityat KSTL and WIL, St.Louis; then went into advertising.So the man who composed the Mr. Clean and Toys Are Usjingles was a jazz fan, but also a blues fan — long before most folkswho listen to the blues today.THERE COMES THE NEIGHBORHOOD Scaffolding obscuredthe front of the Jazz Record Mart in December & Jan. as work wasrenewed on a restaurant in our old quarters (the second try). Theylet us put up some signs on it and I hope nobody thought we’d goneout of business.A lot of other construction has been going on:The Grand Avenue subway station is undergoing completereconstruction but has been no inconvenience to riders. When it’sfinished we can boast of one of the best stations in Chicago. (Andthe service on the brown and red lines that I take on my trips to theshop is so fast that I haven’t needed gloves and earmuffs on thecoldest days.)Meanwhile, the American Medical Assn. will soon finish work ona high rise hotel and apartment house/garage at Illinois and Grand,across the street from JRM. Their scaffolding is all down now. Mightopen as you read this.Gosh! When we moved to West Grand in 1962 the tallestbuilding in the neighborhood was the old AMA bldg. across the streetfrom 7-West - 5 stories. Now the loop doesn’t define downtownChicago—we’re in it.(And, by the way, the El is the smartest way to travel in Chicago- short waits and clean trains and less expensive,too.)REMEMBERING A RECORD COLLECTOREverybody who works at the store remembers Smitty. He cameinto the store regularly. He had a good position at Florsheim Shoes,was passionately interested in big band jazz but knew that it allstemmed from combo jazz so he had a broad collection of both,going back to performances from the 20’s.What made Smitty’s story unusually interesting was thatwhenever a big band was in the area, he would volunteer to helphandle the instruments and equipment - an unpaid roadie!He was even offered a job to go on the road with Count Basie butcouldn’t afford to step down from his job at Florsheim.Smitty’s life had a long and sad ending attended to by a wife I canonly describe as saintly because she also tended to the lingeringhealth problems and eventual death of their son.In addition to the records, Smitty had about 7,000 cassettes verywell recorded from every jazz show in the area: Record shows DickBuckley, Neil Tesser and Larry Smith, etc. on WBEZ as well as SteveCushing’s Blues Before Sunrise. (Yes, he was into blues, too). Manylive performances from various stations were included. We couldn’tbuy the tapes because they couldn’t legally be sold. But at herrequest we hauled them away. I listen to them in my car and thenwe give them away at the Jazz Record Mart. Cassettes of liveperformances are being held at Delmark and given to the artiststhereon but if you’d like some of the record shows just ask at thecounter.- Bob KoesterDave Specter presents AL MILLERwith special guests Willie Kent, Steve Freund, Tad RobinsonWILD CARDS (Delmark 675)Recorded at Delmark’s Riverside Studios – February 14, 15, 1994You may have missed WILD CARDS first time around becauseof its top billing to one of the more obscure Delmark blues artists, AlMiller. But by no means whatsoever does that mean it shouldn’t bemore well known. This mid ‘90’s underground Chicago blues classicfeatures an all-star Chicago blues revue, featuring 4 differentsingers, including the much missed distinctive Mississippi toChicago vocals of the late great bassist Willie Kent (’36-’06.) In fact,seven of the musicians are all noted bandleaders today, includingsoul blues vocalist award winner Tad Robinson (based in Indiana,)and powerful but tasteful guitarists Dave Specter and Bay Areabased Steve Freund (check out his killer version of Peter Green’s“Long Grey Mare!”) Piano/organ man Ken Saydak (now based inColorado) is a supreme talent and adds much to this varied release.Harlan Terson “The Blues Person” is one of the most in demandbass players in Chicago and a long time steady presence on thescene. The horn section is an added bonus on 4 cuts, and includesRob Mazurek on trumpet, who is now a world renownedmusician/artist on the avant–garde jazz scene with his manyChicago Underground groups.Severely underrated harp player Al Miller has an in interestingblues history, in that he was performing in his youth in the mid 60’swith the Chicago blues mandolin/guitar legend, Johnny Youngamong others. Miller then had the privilege of being on ChessRecords, releasing a 45 with the garage blues band, The DirtyWurds in ’67! He then moved to San Francisco in ’69 to play withguitar hero Mike Bloomfield as the house band at the fabledKeystone Corner. Itwas the blues world’sloss when Millersemi-retired from themusic scene to workin a lucrative Chicagocommodities firm andraise a family (but nothis, I’m sure!) We arevery fortunate that heput together this ’94session, and now it isback in print onDelmark for yourenjoyment.- Kevin Johnson13