Lucky 3 Blues Band - Howl! (2014)

Tracklist:

01. Maxwell Street Blues (2:50)
02. Junkyard (4:31)
03. Boogaloo Test (2:25)
04. Too Much Funky Business (3:44)
05. So Alone (4:04)
06. Who's Hoodooin' Who? (2:49)
07. Old Dog (4:06)
08. Midnight On the Highway (4:57)
09. Wind Howlin' Blues (4:22)
10. Shakin' All Over (3:41)
11. Hoodoo Man Blues (5:00)
12. Too Much Alcohol (3:36)
13. I'm a Man (4:05)

[quote]In the wake of their acclaimed recent self-produced CD Howl, the Lucky 3 Blues Band got right back into the studio and conjured up Blues Time, a five-song EP again on their own Lucky 3 label spotlighting the Chicago trio’s singular take on contemporary blues. Gritty and tough, sinewy and uncompromising, the all-original collection spotlights the riveting vocals of Jim Desmond in the stellar company of another pair of Windy City veterans, harpist Frank Raven and guitarist Jay O’Rourke.

“We were looking through songs to make our followup to Howl, and we had a lot of stuff. Jim and I had written quite a few songs, and our producer Jay noticed that we had these five songs that all had the word ‘blues’ actually in the title,” says Raven. “I don’t know if they tell a story, but they kind of all fit together. So in keeping with that idea, we decided to do a little bit more spontaneous-type recording, kind of rough and a little bit raw.”

Recorded at Jay’s Garage on Chicago’s North Side (O’Rourke’s studio), the set showcases Desmond’s powerful pipes in a snarling, stripped-down setting. “He has a great voice, which you just want to listen to. You just want to hear him,” says Frank. “He’s been here in Chicago since the ‘60s, and he’s seen everybody and knows everybody and sang with them all. And it just carries though. His feeling is completely there.”

Everyone in the Lucky 3 Blues Band has been a regular on the local music circuit for decades. Desmond’s been singing professionally since the mid-‘60s in a plethora of bands, mostly blues-based. He and Raven teamed in the popular Blue Watusis from 1990 to 1994, a band that came directly out of the hard-rocking Slammin’ Watusis (Frank was also a linchpin of that outfit too, when they recorded for SONY/Epic).

O’Rourke arrived in Chicago in 1977, playing lead guitar with B.B. Spin before producing the Insiders’ Epic debut album (he also played guitar with them). Jay’s a wizard behind the board, producing and engineering for countless rock and blues luminaries and mastering the output of Alligator Records, Chicago’s leading blues label.

“We always wanted to work with Jay,” says Frank. “We wanted him to be in the Blue Watusis, but he was always busy with the Insiders. We wanted to put him next to (guitarist) Lee d’Buddah. We thought that would be an awesome combo.”

That longstanding wish finally came true in 2012, when Desmond and Raven joined forces with O’Rourke to form the Lucky 3 Blues Band. “We rehearsed for one year before we played our first show,” notes Raven. After a nine-month weekly residency at Lincoln Tap Room and shows at top venues all over Chicago, the Lucky 3 Blues Band was ready to take on the world, their shared experience resulting in a musical give-and-take that can only be developed through countless hours on the bandstand and inside the studio.