LYNWOOD SLIM "LAST CALL " Liner Notes by Scott Dirks

Lynwood Slim was born Richard Duran in Los Angeles, CA, in 1953, and followed the well-trodden path of so many bluesmen of his generation: early interest in another instrument (in his case, trumpet), before having his head turned around by the sounds of Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, and other Chicago-based blues legends while in his early teens. He began making a name for himself – not only as a harp player and singer, but also as a pool player! – at an early age, but when opportunities for blues players (and pool players) in L.A. began to look limited in the early ‘70s, he looked to colder climes and relocated to the northern blues mecca of…no, not Chicago , but Minneapolis . In fact, Minneapolis had a vibrant blues scene, fueled in part by Chicago bluesmen who had moved there as an escape from the Chicago ghettos. Regular contact there with blues legends such as Baby Doo Caston and Big Walter Horton proved invaluable, and served Slim well in mastering the subtleties of tone and phrasing, helping him to develop his own voice in the blues.

And that, Lynwood Slim has done well. His mastery of blues harmonica – both the ‘little harp’ and the more difficult chromatic - is second to none, and he’s also one of the finest blues vocalists of his generation. Along the way, Slim also developed a strong taste for cool jazz (thanks to his father, a “jazz freak” who began dragging him along to live jazz shows before he was even into his teens.) With this release, Lynwood Slim has made a conscious effort to dig deeper into the jazz sounds that have moved him so deeply for so many years. Influences from Billy Holiday and Django Reinhardt rub shoulders with tough West Side Chicago guitar and low-down harmonica, and like a finely seasoned gumbo, all the ingredients complement the others…and leave you wanting more. As Slim says, “Jazz and Blues are just different fleas on the same dog.”

Couple Lynwood Slim’s decades of performing and recording experience – he’s on dozens of CDs, either as a leader or featured guest - with a life that’s seen more ups and downs and ins and outs than the next three bluesmen of his generation combined, and add in a knack for writing strong and catchy original lyrics, and a deep love of swinging jazz, and you’ve got one of the most complete and appealing bluesmen in the business today.