Search - Curtis Jones :: Trouble Blues

The Curtis Jones style goes east

swampshaka | New Orleans, Louisiana | 10/29/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Curtis Jones comes from a long line of Texas troubadours who
plied their piano skills throughout the southwest during the 1930's. Unlike many Texan's who wound up laying down roots on the west coast, Curtis opted for Chicago and the windy city's bustling but competitive blues scene of the 1950's. "Trouble Blues", was recorded for the Prestige label in 1960 and finds Curtis surrounded mainly by N.Y.C. jazz session musicians with the exception of Johnny "Big Moose-Moose John" Walker a Chicago blues pianist who came east with Jones to lend his support on guitar for this session. I have read some negative reviews on this c.d. mainly becuase of the inclusion of organist Robert Banks who as one critic put it "almost ruins what is an otherwise an excellent album with his awful organ", but I feel this session works well. It's a great contrast hearing the down home piano stylings of Curtis layered with the jazzy organ fills of Banks, though there may be a time or two where Banks over enthusiasm gets the best of him it's certainly not enough to ruin what is a good, solid, straight ahead BLUES outing. Like most blues and jazz releases on the Prestige label, this disc clocks in at the standard 39:00 time total which is my only complaint, Prestige always maintained the highest musical standards {sound quality, preformance levels ect.} which is why I never hesitate to buy any of their releases, despite the time tease. Curtis Jones played a no frills blues piano and sang with a sincerity and conviction which would never be slick enough to make it in today's kinder and gentler blues market. Whether Jones was paired with a bunch of jazz cat's for a recording date on the east coast, playing gut bucket blues with a band on Chicago's south side or performing solo in Dallas's "Deep Ellum", there is one thing I can almost guarantee, when Curtis Jones sang and played his "Lonesome Bedroom Blues" it would be done on his terms and in his style, the Curtis Jones style, and nobody could change that."