Sam Burckhardt
"Chicago Swing"

One of the original court members of the Mighty Blue Kings, Sam Burckhardt has also been making music since the early seventies, including collaborations with blues and jazz artists Sunnyland Slim, Erwin Helfer, Pinetop Perkins, Jimmy Rogers and Yoko Noge. Burckhardt just released "Chicago Swing," fourteen tracks of authentic jump blues without a single Cherry Poppin' Daddy to be found. Sam plays the tenor sax, and he knows his history; there are no covers on "Chicago Swing," but every song sounds as if its straight from 1944. (There's even a version of "Honey Chile Jump," a Mighty Blue King staple that Burckhardt wrote.) The man can blow the blues through a horn, and if you want to hear it for yourself before you spend money on a record, check him out at any number of weekly gigs he plays (most often, Thursday nights at the California Clipper in Logan Square).

by Dave Chamberlain.