In Blue Chicago Blues, recorded in 2007 the duo of tenor player Joe McPhee and bassist Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten balances out very well, in ethnicity, instrumentation, musical personality, and tonal character. McPhee is relaxed with the openness of his horn and Håker-Flaten, attentively diligent at emphasizing the tautness of his bass strings. “Requiem for An Empty Heart” sounds the blues-iest of all of the six tracks. But McPhee’s poetry on the back cover of the record jacket settles any question of how blues are anyway: “For this here ain’t nothin’ but the blues, nasty, low down, trifflin’ and sweet…” Dedicated to the late Chicago tenorman, Fred Anderson, the recording refers to blues-makers Oliver Nelson and Ornette Coleman and simple imaginations of the downtrodden or the mercurial female kind. — Lyn Horton, Jazz Times Continue reading →