So Wednesday when I was looking for some new blues and downloaded the Kilborn Alley Blues Band I also downloaded another album on the same label Blue Bella Records, Privileged by Nick Moss. Well I’ve listened to this album many times over the last three days and each time I listen to it I like it more and more and it’s quickly catching up the Kilborn Alley as a new favorite. Before listening to this album I had never heard of Nick Moss and evidently I was missing out on some great Chicago Blues! From his website biography Who is this Nick Moss? you can read the full biography at his website. Chicago Blues was once synonymous with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Rogers, Little Walter, Elmore James, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and so many more. But today:
Chicago blues is now also synonymous with guitarist Nick Moss. Though the golden era of Chicago blues is long past with many of its key players deceased or retired, this young Chicagoan stands tallest in the current generation of blues performers that honor the letter and spirit of the great urban African-American music. No less than Jimmy Rogers saw Nick as a protégé, a torchbearer, and a colleague. Leading Chicago-style guitarist Buddy Guy sanctions his talent: “Nick Moss is one of the local favorites at my club, Legends. I always enjoy the way he plays and works hard to please our audience.” Noted Chicago-based music journalist Bill Dahl, never one for gratuitous praise, has raved over Nick’s guitar playing, saying he possesses “mastery of the classic Chicago sound,” while acclaimed blues producer Dick Shurman numbers himself among Nick’s ever-growing legion of admirers, calling his Windy City neighbor “an increasingly centered artist who can rightly be called a master.”
Privileged is Nick ‘s eighth album. The six previous albums were with his band The Flat Tops and they have received many accolades including the following:
Sadie Mae is a clearer picture of what we do live.” The release was nominated for two 2006 Blues Music Awards: Album of the Year and Contemporary Blues Album of the Year.
Live At Chan’s went on to receive two 2007 Blues Music Award nominations (“Album of the Year” and “Traditional Blues Album of the Year), in addition to the nods for “Band of the Year” and “Instrumentalist: Guitar” [Nick Moss]).
From Amazon.com review Privileged is a departure from Moss’ traditional blues style
After seven critically-acclaimed traditional blues releases (along with two Blues Blast Music Award wins and 16 Blues Music Award nominations under his band’s collective belt), Nick Moss is taking a fresh approach and heading in an exciting new direction on Privileged. As Blogcritic Josh Hathaway writes in the liner notes, ‘Privileged represents a change in direction but not inspiration. Before Nick met Jimmy Rogers, Jimmy Dawkins and Lurrie Bell, he met their musical offspring in the form of Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers, Free, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Cream and other legends who drew their inspiration from Mississippi’s Delta and the immortal treasures that sprang from his beloved nearby Chicago.’ Moss has written some of the finest songs of his career, and by stretching beyond the traditional blues idiom, he has expanded his sound without losing his identity.
Right now, I am listening to the cover of Cream’s “Politician” and it’s great. Other standout tracks for me include the opening track “Born Leader”, “Privileged at Birth”, “She’s So Fine (Born Blind)” “Tear’em” Down” and the closing track “Bolognious Funk” which kicked off my four mile run yesterday in fine fashion! So if you like your blues like I do tinged with a little rock, with some great guitar and organ check out Nick Moss’ Privileged and again I’ll be going back and checking out what I missed on the first seven Nick Moss and the Flat Tops first seven albums!
Here’s “Born Leader” from their CD Release Party at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago!