Customer Reviews

Blues at Montreux

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album just pumps!

I've found other Jack Dupree ablums very flat in comparison to this.

This is without a doubt, the best blues album I've ever heard. It's not blues in the usual depressing sense, it's get up and get crazy barrel house blues. Drunken brothel music at its best.

This is the last recording that King Curtis made before he was killed two weeks later (what a loss!) and his inclusion on this album is a stroke genius. I'm sure it's the presence of Curtis that lifts Dupree's playing. They just bounce and feed off each other. Jack Dupree really shines in such excellent company.

This is a joyous masterpiece.

King Curtis was a sax player extraordinaire. His soulful playing can be heard on tunes by the Coasters, Nina Simone, Eric Clapton, John Lennon, the Beatles, Duane Allman and Aretha Franklin to name but a few. Champion Jack Dupree was a self proclaimed "barrelhouse piano player" who learned to play as a teenager in brothels and speakeasies.

Champion Jack recorded approximately 74 albums in his lifetime with his best being "Blues From The Gutter". For this particular recording, King Curtis was in Montreux in 1971 to back up Aretha Franklin and Champion Jack was on hand for a solo performance. The collaboration of the two was one of those unexpected impromptu decisions that made history. The sax of King Curtis is jazzy and soulful and when combined with the rollicking piano of Champion Jack, creates the atmosphere of a late night jazz session in New Orleans. Dupree's "Junker Blues" never sounded grittier and "Sneaky Pete", a song about wine that sells for 50 cents a gallon, is given new life with the addition of Champion Jack's piano. Sadly, Champion Jack asks at the beginning of the CD "I wonder what I will be doing in 1999?" Neither man lived to see it. Champion Jack died January 21, 1992, in Hanover Germany and King Curtis was murdered outside his New York apartment just three months after this recording. If you like sax and barrelhouse piano, this CD is first rate.

A great jam featuring my favorite horn player Curtis Ousley and the for-real piano blues of Champion Jack. This recording might have been heard live in a bar with 4 people there, (all ex-wifes), outside at someones wedding, or in a stadium with 20,000 screaming fans. Nothing pretentious, and great tunes. A good representation by all.

Before I go into the rest of my review, if you have stumbled upon this album because you are a King Curtis fan, just be aware that this is first and foremost a Champion Jack Dupree album. The style is straight up barrelhouse blues, but please don't let that turn you off.

There are some truly great things about this recording. Champion Jack dupree's piano playing is first rate, and he is clearly in control of the musical proceedings. In his early 60s at the time, his voice is aged to perfection which lends an authenticity to the material that is unmistakable. King Curtis is brilliant on the sax, fitting into the barrelhouse framework with plenty of unpredictable fills and solos at a moment's notice.

There are two main things that bring this album down to 3 stars for me. First, as another reviewer points out, there is a fair amount of repetitiveness throughout the songs. Second, and more importantly to me, not all musicians in this band are up to the task. Oliver Jackson on drums seems completely lost at times, especially during Sneaky Pete which would be one of the true highlights of the album if it weren't for Jackson's inability to follow where the rest of the band is going.

In spite of these flaws, this recording is still definitely an enjoyable listen. Pour yourself a glass of Whisky and turn it up loud. You'll be glad you did.

The sound on this recording is very good - there's lots of space and the bass is excellent. The two Duprees - Champion Jack and Cornell - are at the top of their form, Cornell's guitar work is some of the finest around. And King Curtis rocks. The band gets into some excellent grooves and extended improvisations. It is worth getting for the music, but for me Cornell Dupree's work is the highlight here.

I heard this on vinyl when i was younger at a friends house and it was great, so I bought it. It's a great album, i wore out the vinyl so I bought a cd. It sounds even better.

I first got the LP in the mid-70s to sample Champion Jack DuPree's music and didn't think it would ever be out in CD.

This music shows King Curtis' versatility in melding with DuPree's old-time piano jazz. Curtis brings an incredible amount of energy and virtuosity to the music.

The biggest flaw is that some of the cuts are repititous in melody lines. I'd still recommend this---Dupree is a throwback, the band is solid, and King Curtis blows the set away.

King Curtis was one of the greatest r&b sax players who ever lived. This recording is one piece of evidence of that greatness. The reason is that even though his blues partner on this disc had a rather slow, somewhat laconic style, the King did well. He was able to play some great riffs, even though this older style of country blues was no where near the rhythmic level that would have allowed King to soar. It would have been great to hear the King play with Wilson Pickett live, Sam and Dave or James Brown. But in this setting, his perfection and drive puch through. This is not a great sax record but a must for every King Curtis fan.