Dave Specter - Speculatin' (2000)

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Dave Specter - Speculatin' (2000)

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Despite the album's title, there's nothing tentative about the music on "Speculatin'," the recent, all-instrumental release by Chicago blues guitarist, Dave Specter, and his working band. The program is one that will delight the listener who prefers his blues straight and probably put to the test more casual followers of the blues scene. Specter originals, which comprise 8 of the tunes on the album, favor minor keys (which is the exception, at least in the blues repertories of most jazz musicians), and despite the undeniable influence of certain jazz guitarists, the leader's sound and style–raw, slightly distorted, uncompromisingly direct–remains firmly rooted in the language of the blues.

Yet, the program is also a testimony to the blues "spectrum"–ranging from jazz funk to 8th-note-feel rock to 4/4 shuffle to R&B swing to boogaloos, cha-chas, and various latin-tinged blues beats. In fact, the sprightly "Hot Cha" is as capable of summoning up soothing South Seas breezes as the down-and-dirty slow-drag number, "Dark Hour Blues," is capable of leading the listener to the edge of the abyss–the valley of unnameable suffering–from whence the blues originally came.

But there's much here to please the jazz listener as well, particularly the ensemble's working out on Dizzy Gillespie's "Birk's Works" and Charles Earland's "Mighty Burner." On the latter number, taken way up-tempo, Rob Waters lays down a pedal bass line that would be a joy to hear in itself were the organist not simultaneously constructing a gem of a solo–beginning with short, percussive riff motifs and then building to a stops-out, block-chorded chorus. Here, as well as during his accompanying, his use of different registrations, tight control of the volume pedal and judicious deployment of Leslie effects, provide enough variety to counteract some of the repetitious elements of the all-blues program.

While there's something here for everyone, this is an album guaranteed to appeal to blues fans and, most certainly, devotees of blues guitar. The mix, in fact, favors the sound of the leader's instrument from beginning to end.

Review by Samuel Chell

This is an all-instrumental disc that is exclusively neither blues nor jazz, but a blend of each. It marked the first time the tasty Chicago guitarist recorded only instrumentals, but folks who were Specter fans before this one could probably feel it coming. Though he has worked with some delightful vocalists (Barkin' Bill Smith, Lenny Lynn, Tad Robinson, and Lynwood Slim) he has sprinkled a few instrumentals into previous albums, and the format clearly suits him perfectly. For the most part, Specter is accompanied here by his working band and gives Rob Waters plenty of room to roam on Hammond B-3. Nine tunes are originals (one by Waters), and covers include Dizzy Gillespie's "Birk's Works," the Meters' "Look-Ka Py Py," and "Hot Cha" (a Willie Woods tune that became a hit for Junior Walker). The band also swings on soul-jazz organist Charles Earland's "The Mighty Burner" (the flipside to Earland's "More Today Than Yesterday"). You won't find many covers of this one, save a 1970 recording by Clarence Wheeler and the Enforcers. "At Whit's End" is Specter's tribute to his late compadre and guitar pal, Bob Whitman. The minor-key cha-cha spotlights Specter's frugal, delicately paced guitar style and Waters' rapid B-3 runs. "Blues A-La-King," with phrasing similar to some of B.B. Kings' earlier work, is a "backward" shuffle that best demonstrates how tight this band is. Specter and Waters adopt a marvelously aloof, sassy mood and take off together on the opening phrases of "The Haleiwa Shuffle," named for the artist's favorite Oahu getaway. The only song that doesn't fall in line with the general feeling here is "Dark Hour Blues," a slow and grinding stomp in the key of E through J.L. Hooker/Lightnin' Hopkins territory that is tacked on to the end of the disc. Still, it's proof positive that Specter can do it all. Speculatin has set the record straight: blues instrumentals are not just for breakfast anymore!

Review by Ann Wickstrom

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Dave Specter - Speculatin' (2000)

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Dave Specter - Speculatin' (2000)

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Dave Specter - Speculatin' (2000)

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