The Aces – Chicago Beat – P-Vine Records PCD-5514

Recorded over two separate sessions dated December 4, 1970 and December 15, 1973 in Bordeaux, France and Toulouse, France, respectively, this superb CD includes four tracks not originally issued, and represents the pinnacle of ensemble Chicago blues playing.  If someone asked you for a definition of the ideal Chicago blues band sound, sharing this astounding collection with them would be the simple way to provide the indisputable answer.

The Aces, bassist and vocalist Dave Myers, harmonicist, guitarist, and singer Louis Myers, and drummer and vocalist Fred Below, along with fellow blues greats Chicago guitarists Eddie Taylor and Jimmy Rogers, piano man Willie Mabon, and guitarist Mickey Baker, together constructed a collection of blues that could easily serve as a one-stop textbook on modern Chicago blues.  Simply, each cut is excellently presented, there is no over-playing, each artist seems to understand the art of interrelationships in producing blues art, and the results are a joyful romp through blues exactitude.

This collection was originally released on the French Black And Blue label in 1999, with the Japanese P-Vine Records label simultaneous releasing the collection with the abovementioned four additional selections. 

The Aces originally formed in the early 1950s, as brothers Dave Myers and Louis Myers joined with Fred Below under the moniker of The Three Aces.  The group was the in-demand group to play behind a host of Chicago singers and harmonica players, including blues giants Junior Wells and Little Walter when they were known as The Four Aces and The Jukes, respectively.

The group had a recording history dating back to 1952 when they were Little Walter’s session band on certain of his Checker label outings.  The group backed blues artists such as Bo Diddley, T-Bone Walker, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Dawkins, Koko Taylor, and Lightnin’ Slim, among others as their gig band, and also recorded with blues artists Roosevelt Sykes, Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Rogers, Robert Lockwood, Jr., and Eddie Taylor, in addition to many others. 

Although not always playing together as The Aces, each of the members were active presences on the Chicago blues scene, and when they did come together, their individual and combined prowess was highly-remarkable. 

On this 14-track collection, the very strengths that made The Aces so highly sought-after shine with astonishing blues results.  Dave Myers always looms in the background, his metronomic bass patterns ideally framing the cadence demanded of any given blues tune.  His vocals impress with a confident, pleasing aplomb.

Below, himself also akin to a human metronome, shells each blues selection with the touch and jazz-infused bounce he was known for, and when he steps up to the microphone, his vocals bounce with a joyful parlance, and they simply bring delight.

Louis Myers is in many ways the backbone of this entire outing.  His vocals are sharp and certain, his guitar work clean and economical, and his harmonica squalls with true Chicago drive and swagger.  The notion of a more complete bluesman is a tough argument indeed.

Taylor, Rogers, Mabon, and Baker add appreciably to his assemblage of terrific blues, but make no mistake, this is The Aces show through-and-through.

If you like quality modern Chicago blues presented by a tenured band who understand the concept of dutiful band dynamics, then this is a collection you will find yourself turning to again and again.  It is just that singular in approach.

This is a highly-essential blues document, and one you need in your blues collection!