Lonnie Brooks – Hot Shot – Alligator Records ALCD 4731 

There was always a buzz in the air when The Lonnie Brooks Blues Band would make the trip 90 miles east from Chicago to play at Mishawaka, Indiana’s Center Street Blues Café.  Through repeated performances there, the rabid northcentral Indiana blues base knew what to anticipate; infectious enthusiasm from Brooks, a well-oiled band, a blend of familiar Alligator Records-released blues songs sprinkled with well-chosen covers and tunes from Brooks’ past, and in general, just a great time.  Brooks and his crew never failed to succeed in further cementing committed fans while also winning over new converts.

When Hot Shot was released in 1983, it was Brooks’ third full-length Alligator Records release behind 1979’s Bayou Lightning and 1981’s Turn On The Night.  Brooks had also appeared on Alligator’s 1978 Living Chicago Blues Vol. 3, and had also been featured on 1980’s Blues Deluxe, a fine compilation of Chicago blues performances captured live at Chicago Fest, a collection that was a joint Alligator and WXRT release.

Brooks’ stock was rising at the time of the release of Hot Shot, as his contagious personality, strong blues guitar work, and impassioned vocals had won over legions of fans.  Each new release was greeted with great eagerness, and this collection only furthered Brooks’ popularity and validity as a modern blues force.

Brooks was surrounded on this release by some of the best bluesmen on the Chicago landscape, including Dion Payton plying his substantial guitar skills, bass man Lafayette Lyle, Jr., a virtual human metronome, superb keyboardist Ken Saydak, journeyman Chicago saxophonist Abb Locke, and the remarkable Perdis Wilson on drums.

Of the ten cuts on this collection, seven are Brooks originals, and his innovative storytelling is evident in his compositions.  Anytime a bluesman presents something new of value to the blues territory is cause for celebration, and in this way, Brooks is to be heralded.  The three chosen covers were well-considered, and brought to their best effects.

Brooks’ vocals are robust and “in your face”; in no way do they lie relaxing in the background.  The passion in which Brooks delivers his stories is astonishing.  Brooks sings with a confident energy, conveying life’s situations as to leave no doubt as to his position on any of the circumstances addressed. 

Brooks’ guitar is a driving machine, and while his playing is always infused with feeling and depth, it consistently rings with staggering enterprise.  It repeatedly marches, cries, and confidently transports the blues stories at-hand into musical excursions and outbursts that solidify the mood of the tale.  In short, it is a continual joy to behold.

Without specifically detailing the individual lofty merits of each backing band member here, collectively, the cooperative assemblage of elevated blues talent here shapes, frames, and distributes Brooks’ blues visions with cohesiveness and consummate success.  Make no mistake, for while this is Brooks’ show, the blues atmospheres created and dispensed by Brooks’ recording band ensure that this release rises to its peak expectations.

While in the future I plan to present an artist profile on Lonnie Brooks, below is a photo I took of Brooks from the late 1980s period when he played a show in Mishawaka, IN.  I have many other photos of Brooks that I will eventually share, but I like the conveyance of Brooks’ blues musicmaking joy that is evident from this on-stage picture. 

Lonnie Brooks’ Hot Shot is a jubilant outing that highlights his rising blues star, one chocked-full of meaty treasures for fans of modern Chicago blues.

Highly-recommended!