The Night Before: Rosa's Lounge
Jump to the night previous, and a set captured at the Chicago landmark, Rosa's Blues Lounge. Much like they did with the opening collage at Buddy Guy's Legends, the camera pans across historic photos of various club memories before slowly dissolving to Dave and the boys cranking along on "The Hollywood Park Shuffle." Specter makes good use of his honey-toned, dark blonde Epiphone, scattering rich notes across the song's shuffling rhythms.
"Is What It Is" is a fine instrumental, a slower-paced blues with a slight funky lilt. Specter changes directions a couple of times during this one, the band taking the turns like a Grand Prix driver, swerving against the G-forces without missing a beat. Each band member gets to kick up a solo during the song, Terson in particular striking a deep bass groove with energetic progressions up the neck.
Onstage with Sharon Lewis
Singer Sharon Lewis hits the stage for the raucous, up-tempo "In Too Deep." Lewis is an entertaining vocalist, capable of really belting out a song with heart and soul. Specter adds his tasteful fretwork astride a slip-sliding rhythm while Lewis delivers a crowd-pleasing performance.
Another DVD bonus track, "Every Goodbye Ain't Gone," keeps the audience tapping their feet and shaking their rumps, Lewis' tornado-strength vocals blowing away the first couple of rows in their intensity.
An original Lewis song, the soul ballad "Angel," closes out the too-brief Rosa's set. Specter's delicate guitar intro reminds of the Jimi Hendrix's classic "Little Wing" with beautiful tone and enchanting space between the notes. Lewis displays the other end of her great vocal range, delivering an emotional reading of the song in a Gospel vein.
At one point, Lewis moves off the stage to the front of the audience, watching Specter solo while feeding off his energy. By the end of the song, Lewis is visibly drained by her efforts. It's an impressive, powerful performance on everybody's part, and a definite high note on which to end the DVD.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
Specter's Live In Chicago DVD does a fine job of capturing the artist onstage and in his natural element. The multi-camera shoot (at least four, maybe more, so far as I can tell) is superb, with crystal-clear images and fine editing that portrays the band well. The lighting is good and there are no weak spots in the visuals. The sound is good, though it seems slightly weaker on the Rosa's set than at Legends. Sound seems to be keyed to the instruments, so the vocals are of slightly weaker quality, especially during the infrequent spoken passages. However, Specter's guitar rings clear as a bell.
A gifted instrumentalist with a variety of styles at his disposal, Dave Specter is an unsung talent on the Chicago blues scene. Specter is no blues purist, but rather an enthusiast who incorporates elements of bluesmen like T-Bone Walker, Magic Sam, and Otis Rush in his work, along with jazzier influences like Kenny Burrell and, although it's understated, B.B. King.
Live In Chicago is an incredible display of Specter's talents as a guitarist, as a stylist, and as a bandleader. This is a good show, and well worth experiencing for any dedicated blues fan.
