Week 52
Memphis Slim, At the Gate of Horn
(Collectables 7130)

Prolific composer, master of the 88 keys, and expatriate ambassador of the music, Memphis Slim was one of the leading figures in the blues for nearly half a century.

Born John Chatman in Memphis (of course), Slim relocated to Chicago in the late 1930s, teaming up with some of the leading figures in that city's sophisticated blues scene, chief among them Big Bill Broonzy. Developing a personal piano style that readily connected the "Bluebird" sound of 1930s Chicago to the emerging down-home styles of the 1940s, Slim was by the middle of that decade an accomplished and popular bandleader in his own right.

By the early 1950s, he was also well into carving a huge place for himself in the book of blues standards, writing songs with which Count Basie, Lowell Fulson, and B.B. King, among others, had substantial hits. Relocating to France in 1962, he remained an active and accomplished bandleader until his passing in 1988.

Originally released in 1959 (and contrary to the title, not a live club date), At the Gate of Horn features 12 tracks, all but one a Slim original. The music is sophisticated yet gritty, with saxophones, a swinging rhythm section, and Matt Murphy's stinging guitar supporting the burnished voice and consummate piano playing of Memphis Slim. From ballads for the "Blue and Lonesome" to burners for those "Rocking the House," few releases capture his brilliance as satisfyingly.

Listen: Memphis Slim - "Wish Me Well"
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