So Many Roads- Live In Concert

by Eugene ChadbourneThe 1995 CD release of this title, complete with a bit more than an extra ten minutes of material, looks good on paper and received lots of praise. The original album release is among much live material by this artist that haunts the used-record pile, possibly because when blues fans begin culling through their collection, it is titles such as this that get the boot. Not that this is terrible or anything. Otis Rush is one of the finest blues guitarists, ever. He has made some records that are fantastic. On this one, he is in front of a huge live audience in Japan. The performance is reminiscent of some of the live albums by B.B. King. Backup is sparse in comparison, though. There are only drums and bass, plus second guitarist Jimmy Johnson, a capable player who is mixed pretty far to the background, sticking closely to chords or riff patterns. Blues purists will raise an eyebrow over the way the drummer and bassist play, ever mindful of the fact that Rush was a heavy guitarist who liked to stretch out and build intensity in his solos. His string-bending prowess never fails to surprise, and he also has other tricks for the fretboard, including feedback and ecstatic chording at the climax of an improvisation. Listeners familiar with the way bass and drums pursue a soloist in a fusion jazz band will have an inkling of the way bassist Sylvester Boines and drummer Tyrone Centuray attack the guitar happenings here. There are plenty of familiar gambits, such as suddenly doubling or even tripling the time at the turnaround, heavy-handed use of hi-hat splashes, and intense, synchronized accents that bring to mind the time the guy upstairs decided to demonstrate dance steps at three in the morning. "Crosscut Saw" is a version of this blues standard as if Rush had written it, every guitar lick delivered piping hot, fresh from the guitarist's bakery. It all adds up to showmanship and virtuosity, yes. What is missing is the really deep feeling of the blues. It just doesn't happen on this record. Deep as Rush's guitar burrows into one's soul, however, the listener might not even miss it.