SR5002: Heavy Timbre   -- Chicago Boogie Piano

  

"In 1976, Chicago piano blues aficionados Steven Dolins, Barry Dolins, and David Goldberg produced this session on three acknowledged keyboard masters (Mabon, Sunnyland, and Davis), a veteran who deserved to be better known (Walker), and an already-seasoned but still-youthful prodigy (Helfer). Its reissue is both an important historical document and a listeners' delight … Rollicking fun, soulful intimacy, celebration of life – it doesn't get any more real than this.”

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Press / Music CD Reviews

"Recorded in 1976, Heavy Timbre brought together five of Chicago's finest piano players for an informal 'studio party.' The result? Fourteen tracks of classic Sunnyland Slim, Willie Mabon, Blind John Davis, Jimmy Walker, and Erwin Helfer material, including Mabon's swaggering take on Willie Dixon's 'Seventh Son' and Davis' gorgeously weathered version of Joe Hunter's 'I Almost Lost My Mind.' Four of the participants have passed since the original release, so it's especially revelatory to hear the five bonus tracks on this digitally remastered reissue. … The relaxed vibe is liberating, and the remarkable photos in the packaging are the icing on the cake."

"Gathered together for a friendly 'studio party' one afternoon in 1976, Willie Mabon, Sunnyland Slim, Jimmy Walker, Blind John Davis, and Erwin Helfer take turns on the ivories proving each possesses unimpeachable credentials as a master of piano blues. The long-lost LP's 14 tracks are now supplemented by five discoveries that further underscore the timelessness of the historic meeting.”