Arbee's Blues on CD

Arbee's Blues lays testament to Bluesman Arbee Stidham's triumph over a long depression, a consequence of an accident that forced him to give up the saxophone in the mid-1950's. Along his route to recovery, the musician picked up the guitar, and this album-over half an hour of plaintive Chicago blues and swinging boogie-woogie-is one result. Stidham's deep, grizzly voice and understated guitar licks weave through Memphis Slim's piano/organ riffs and Jump Jackson's beats on snare. See the liner notes for more about Arbee, his blues, and the lyrics that recount them.