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Tail Dragger - Live at the Rooster’s Lounge
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Easily the best act of Chicago Blues nowadays, Tail Dragger (nome omen) possesses a rough, scruffy voice which makes his singing almost a painful experience for the listener. His band is a gathering of relatively young white musicians, led by Rockin’ Johnny Burgin, a guitarist who earned some reputation in the Chicago area several years ago. Also the harp player, Martin Lang, is a regular feature in Chicago clubs. Yet, Tail Dragger and his folks can’t be underestimated. In addition to a more than honourable curriculum as a Blues singer, Tail’s previous “My head is bald”, released in 2005, remains Delmark’s best selling DVD, and his fame has quickly been blossoming beyond US borders. Live at the Rooster’s Lounge starts slowly, maybe too slowly, but if you drag your tail, sure you can’t be fast! Anyhow, after a while there is a sense of awakening, spirits warm up and Martin Lang’s restless harp playing push the rest of the crew on the path for the groove. Tail’s singing seems to find some grace amongst stories of cheating women and poor men begging for some love. A bit out of the blue, a tedious live concert turns into a real Chicago Blues experience, not a groundbreaking one, but a real solid one. Should we have been there, our memories of that night would have been hard to forget. Tail Dragger may not have the cutest voice around but the final result is a fine piece of Chicago Blues. Luca Lupoli
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Louise |
