CD/DVD Review - Little Arthur Duncan, Live at Rosa's Blues Lounge

Little Arthur Duncan
Live at Rosa's Blues Lounge
Delmark
DVD 1793
CD 793

Little Arthur Duncan has been part of the Chicago blues scene, in one way or another, since he arrived in the city from Mississippi in the mid-1950s. He lived in the same building as Little Walter, played on Maxwell Street with Floyd Jones and hung out with Jimmy Reed, Earl Hooker, Hip Linkchain, Magic Sam and Billy Boy Arnold, among others. But unlike many of his contemporaries who went on tour the world, Duncan stayed quietly on the local scene, playing his harp occasionally in small clubs, including two he owned on the west side in the 1980s.

It’s this classic, no-frills Chicago blues sound that Little Arthur Duncan brings to Live at Rosa's Blues Lounge, recorded live in 2007 at Rosa's Lounge on the west side. Wearing a beret festooned with jewels and buttons, the 73-year-old harp player plays and sings his way through 17 tunes, including four penned by Duncan himself. On other tracks, Duncan delivers his versions of Howlin’ Wolf’s “No Place to Go” and “Little Red Rooster,” Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s “Mean Old Frisco Blues,” Roosevelt Sykes’ “44 Blues,” Jimmy Reed’s “Pretty Thing,” and Little Walter’s “Blues with a Feeling” and “I Got to Go.”

Most outstanding are Duncan’s performances on the two Slim Harpo tunes, “I Got Love If You Want It” and “Scratch My Back.” The affinity Little Arthur feels with these tunes is obvious; his energy becomes palpable and transfers visibly to the crowd, who can’t help but get up and dance. The music moves Little Arthur, too. Even when he plays sitting down, he can’t help but dance in his chair, his whole body moving from toe to head.





The band is a perfect fit for Duncan’s style of blues, as they are well-schooled and experienced in traditional Chicago blues. Guitarists Illinois Slim and Rick Kreher (once of the Muddy Waters band) offer tasty interaction with Duncan’s vocals and harp, and bassist Michael Azzi and drummer Twist Turner provide a solid backbone of rhythm.

In addition to recording great blues music and artists, Delmark’s DVD series has given the world a peak of what the Chicago blues scene is like. Here Little Arthur Duncan performs at Rosa’s Lounge, which has been an active and popular blues club for nearly 25 years. This DVD showcases the intimate and interactive atmosphere of blues clubs, as the cameras pan through the club, giving us glimpses of photos on the wall, waitresses filling pitchers with beer, club-goers dancing in the aisles. Rosa’s draws a crowd that’s a mixture of ages and races, locals and out-of-towners.

And, on any given night, you’re likely to see blues musicians and others in the blues biz hanging out in the crowd. This night, it was Little Al Thomas, who takes the mic as a guest vocalist on Doc Clayton’s “I Got to Find My Baby.” Little Al Thomas, with his Housewreckers band, still performs occasionally, primarily in Chicago’s south suburbs.

Delmark has released Live at Rosa’s Blues Lounge as both a CD and a DVD. DVD extras include a voiceover commentary by Little Arthur Duncan and trailers of other available Delmark DVDs.