Eddie Cleanhead Vinson - Cleanhead Blues 1945-1947

I have always loved a wild saxophone and love the early "hot" jazz that blended blues, r'n'b, pop and whatever else into a pre-rock'n'roll stomp. Vinson traversed different scenes and genres, playing in big bands as well as fronting smaller, more r'n'b-centric combos. In these recordings, he blows some mean sax while singin' some powerful blues in bands of varying sizes.

He was a blues shouter in the vein of Big Joe Turner and Big Bill Broonzy - loud, brash, yet tuneful - and his sax playing is clever and melodic, with the proper edge to it, adding plenty of excitement to the songs.

Cleanhead (so named due to his shaved skull) was also a ladies' man and not afraid to sing about it in a somewhat racy way - as a blues singer should! The groups give a strong backing to his vocals'n'solos, though Eddie always stands out. This is not the raw, guitar-driven blues of some of my faves, but is jazzy'n'horn-driven, though no less cool.

Nice collection of some of the man's early work. Dig it a lot!