With a style that merged boogie-woogie neatly into the blues, Otis Spann found his first success as the pianist for Muddy Waters, and he played on virtually all of Waters' classic tracks between 1953 and 1969, but as the house pianist for Chicago's Chess Records, he also figured prominently on sides from Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Etta James, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and countless others. Spann was also a fine singer and leader in his own right, and on his own ...
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With a style that merged boogie-woogie neatly into the blues, Otis Spann found his first success as the pianist for Muddy Waters, and he played on virtually all of Waters' classic tracks between 1953 and 1969, but as the house pianist for Chicago's Chess Records, he also figured prominently on sides from Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Etta James, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, and countless others. Spann was also a fine singer and leader in his own right, and on his own sides, as well. This wonderful two-disc set collects Spann's early solo outings for Chess from the '50s, as well as material from his 1960 sessions in New York with Robert Lockwood, Jr. and St. Louis Jimmy Oden, and rounds things into a complete portrait by including sides he did with B.B. King, James Cotton, Hubert Sumlin, and many others. Spann is regarded as Chicago's greatest post-war blues pianist. This set shows why. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi
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