Leroy Carr's stress-free midtempo piano blues sit at the crossroads of an earlier rural style and the more urbane city styles that would take hold in the 1940s. Usually accompanied by guitarist Scrapper Blackwell, Carr was hardly a virtuoso pianist or singer, but he was always comfortably accessible, and his unhurried style influenced countless piano players. This collection from Indigo Records gathers tracks recorded in the late '20s and early '30s, including his well-known "How Long, How Long Blues" as well as the elegant ...
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Leroy Carr's stress-free midtempo piano blues sit at the crossroads of an earlier rural style and the more urbane city styles that would take hold in the 1940s. Usually accompanied by guitarist Scrapper Blackwell, Carr was hardly a virtuoso pianist or singer, but he was always comfortably accessible, and his unhurried style influenced countless piano players. This collection from Indigo Records gathers tracks recorded in the late '20s and early '30s, including his well-known "How Long, How Long Blues" as well as the elegant "When the Sun Goes Down" and its thematic cousin "Hurry Down Sunrise," and the odd novelty tune "Carried Water for the Elephant." Columbia Records' two-disc set called Whiskey Is My Habit, Women Is All I Crave is probably the way to go for listeners seriously curious about Carr's work, but as a single-disc introduction, Hurry Down Sunrise does well enough. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi
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