Mike Stephenson’s “Blues & Rhythm” wrote a beautiful review of Linsey Alexander’s new Delmark album: “Live at Rosa’s”. This British publication is one of the top blues publications in the world.
“One of Chicago’s most popular blues acts is, as the album title states, caught live in mid-May 2019 at Rosa’s, the famed West side club, for his latest Delmark Records release. He has Sergei Androshin guitar, Roosevelt Purifoy keyboards, Ron Simmons bass and ‘Big Ray’ Stewart on drums in support. Recorded by Steve Wagner, and produced and mixed by the two new owners of Delmark, Julia A. Miiller and Elbio Barilari, it captures Linsey in great form”, Stephenson wrote.
READ THE FULL REVIEW…
LINSEY ALEXANDER: Live At Rosa’s
Delmark DE862 (59:36)
Please Love Me/ My Days Are So Long/ If You’ve Ever Loved A Woman/ I Got A Woman/ Goin’ Out Walking/ Somethin’ ’Bout ’Cha/ Snowing In Chicago/ Ships On The Ocean/ Going Back To My Old Time Used To Be One of Chicago’s most popular blues acts is, as the album title states, caught live in mid-May 2019 at Rosa’s, the famed West side club, for his latest Delmark Records release. He has Sergei Androshin guitar, Roosevelt Purifoy keyboards, Ron Simmons bass and ‘Big Ray’ Stewart on drums in support. Recorded by Steve Wagner, and produced and mixed by the two new owners of Delmark, Julia A. Miiller and Elbio Barilari, it captures LInsey in great form.
What is striking from the outset is his piercing single note guitar style, a musical gift he has honed over the years, and one that makes him stand out on the crowded Chicago blues scene. So let’s start off with some searing slow blues with plenty of that aforementioned terrific guitar work. The near nine minutes of ‘If You’ve Ever Loved A Woman’ has Linsey at his searing and intense best, and I cannot stress enough how good his stupendous guitar lines are on this track.
The soul tinged ‘Somethin’ ’Bout ’Cha’ is another slow burn cracker with a hint of reggae rhythms in the mix, all aided by some great feedback from Linsey’s guitar. The other slow blues of the set is ‘Ships On The Ocean’, taken at a less intense pace than the previous two, that is until he lets rip on guitar mid-way through, before the number settles for a while and then once again his guitar work comes to the fore taking the number out.
The set kicks off with a classic Chicago lump de lump shuffle that is ‘Please Love Me’, with space given to Purifoy on the keys and with Linsey’s distinctive tough and gruff sounding vocals being very effective, as they are throughout the disc. The up-tempo and catchy ‘My Days Are So Long’ was the title of his 2006 Delmark album and he and the band give it a good reworking with Purifoy once againshowing off his skills. ‘I Got A Woman’ is a good up-tempo romp of a number, as is ‘Goin’ Out Walking’, both good for the dance floor crowd.
‘Snowing In Chicago’ featured on his ‘Come Back Baby’ album from 2014 on Delmark. It’s a terrific outing that has an incredibly infectious rhythm to it and it seems that Sergio Androshin is given free reign to come forth with some classy guitar work, and the same applies to Purifoy. Lastly on ‘Going Back To My Old Time Used To Be’ the sleeve notes state that Linsey’s son, Nick, himself a gifted guitarist, offered him the funky type of riff that permeates throughout the number. It goes without saying that this artist and his latest release are modern Chicago blues at their best.
Mike Stephenson
“Blues & Rhythm” website: http://www.bluesandrhythm.co.uk/
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must check out that publication