Max Hightower – The Blues Chooses You
This set is primarily the focus of the Chicago blues work of lead guitarist Joe Moss & harmonica ace & blues singer Max Hightower. Together they bring the smoky ambience of barrooms & juke joints right into your listening room…so light up some blunts (the White Owl type), pour some cold ones (as Australians would say) & consume liberally the flavorful American cuisine of an age-old genre…the blues (as Moss & Hightower would).
The showcase has varied blues indulgences. Primarily originals. The 12 songs include 1 extended bonus cut that suggest that The Blues Chooses You (Dropped October 9/MoMojo Records/57:05). Produced by Max (harmonicas/rhythm guitar) & recorded live on analog tape at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville, TN.
The tunes forge through New Orleans juju & Carolina soul with Chicago flair – the musicians are all together in one operating room; microphone bleed blissfully included. No emergencies. Here, Max has a near-Tom Waits-type blues discipline in his raw presentation (on the clever “Sherlock Holmes” as well). “Dedicated Fool” has the guitar strummed with a funky Archie Bell & the Drells type mimicry (“Tighten Up”) along with a good tumble of saloon-flavored piano notes that decorate the tune. The addition of a fiery harmonica enlivens the set. A good introduction to a bluesman with old-man’s strength who knows how to mince & chop a genre to sound compelling.
The fingering piano keys & blues-funk crunch is heavier on “Train Smoke.” Max is far more up to his neck in the blues tradition of old progenitors. Excellent blues because it doesn’t sound like all the basic blues of the past. There’s no showboating guitar – the song is what’s impressive. Guitarist Joe Moss has taste in his instincts. He knows when to give it gas.
Some are more guitar oriented. Played with a prestigious style rather than with flash. Evocative & unpredictable. Comparisons? Moss isn’t B.B. King, or Albert King, he’s actually quite close to that 1968 stunning 4-minute & 15 second guitar solo Andy Summers took on the epic Eric Burdon & the Animals track on the LP “Love Is.” The enduring “Ring of Fire/Colored Rain.” Moss’s playing reminds me of this.
Plenty of boundless harmonica swipes, spread about. In small spurts, mindful of John Mayall’s classic harmonica romp “Sonny Boy Blow.” The arrangements aren’t fancy, but they are hitched-up to the tunes tight. Max sings “I Don’t Know” in a Stevie Ray Vaughan style though the song itself is Chicago-tinted. Performed in a more traditional blues manner with captivating Rob Davis piano (Hammond B3/Wurlitzer) & stinging Moss lead guitar. That sting returns on “Things I Used To Do.”
Highlights – “Dedicated Fool,” “Train Smoke,” “I Don’t Know,” “Things I Used To Do” & “Sherlock Holmes.”
Musicians –Steadman Fleetwood Williams, Sr. (bass) & Brandon Phelps (drums/speaking voice/handclaps).
CD cover image by Micah Furtick. Color image courtesy of Max’s website. CD @ https://maxhightower.com/home