Live at the Avant Garde

"The room was small and smoky and hot and loud."I just had to write something about this fine set so hopefully more Magic Sam/blues fans might find out just how good this set is. Among the currently available live Magic Sam sets this is the best recorded of the bunch by far. Sam's guitar and vocals are close mic'd and are fairly crisp and clean. Bob Richey's drums too are pretty well recorded. But Big Mojo Elem's bass is fairly inaudible. With headphones you can hear his fine supportive bass runs, but it's too bad they aren't a bit higher in the mix. But chalking the sound up to conditions (not the best) and the equipment (second hand), and that nothing could be done about the inherent mix, it's amazing to hear Sam's vocals and guitar in all their glory. So if the bass is a little low, that's okay. This set is rated 5 "stars" because of both the relatively fine recording quality and Sam's subtle yet smoldering performance. Is this the blues reissue of the year?If you're a fan of Magic Sam (like me) you'll want to add this set to your blues collection. Sam's guitar is a prime example of that West Side sound you could hear virtually any night somewhere on the West Side of Chicago, back when blues was alive, in any number of small clubs and taverns. Just listen to "Don't Want No Woman" for a good example of West Side blues/soul. Sam's vocals are filled with that raw tension and that soulful, pleading tone he's known for. And when you combine his guitar work with his declamatory vocals--well it doesn't get much better than this.All the songs are in the 4-5 minutes range. And it's that conciseness that gives his performances a vibrancy and excitement found in Sam's two Delmark studio albums "West Side Soul" and "Black Magic". The economy of his solos actually seems to build up a tension that increases through each song. Listen to "It's All Your Fault Baby" or "Come On In This House" to hear how Sam builds up that tension with only a few notes in his relatively short solos. Or listen to Sam's version of Otis Rush's "All You Love (I Miss Loving)"--another highlight among many. His use of his guitar, playing off his vocals to build a song's impact runs all through this set. There's no long drawn out solos that dilute the tension heard in these tunes. This set is the real deal. You'll recognize songs written by Freddy King, Junior Parker, Willie Dixon, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy Rogers, and (of course) Sam Maghett among others.I've always wondered why recordings this good, of a major blues artist, have taken so many years to see the light of day. Sam recorded relatively little--his Cobra and Chief sides and his Delmark albums (from the same period as this live set) are considered his best albums. The few recorded live albums were marred sonically, so why did something this good remain unheard? But it doesn't matter. There's an authentic energy and period feel of being in the club that runs all through this great set of tunes. Sam's easy going banter with club patrons between songs helps give this set an authentic feel. I've been listening to Magic Sam since the days of the original Delmark vinyl releases back in the late 60's, and this set from the Avant Garde club brings back all the excitement of those first albums from all those years (decades!) ago. Buy this now.

Out of all the live CDs of Magic Sam released so far, this is the best sounding overall and a strong full concert.The set list is great, missing some classics each of us fans would like to hear like "I Just Want A Little Bit" (one of my favorite songs of his) but take what we can get! Sam tightly bangs out one great song after another of his own or Chicago blues classic until the end. Just like you're in the club, and very listenable.As another reviewer Stuart has already mentioned the sound isn't great but perhaps the high end of low-fi, but very listenable. The bass player Big Mojo is hard to hear.I'm not sure if Big Mojo Elem was the best match for Sam but he's just OK here. He's slightly out of tune and plays in the wrong key sometimes so maybe he didn'tknow all the songs or they hadn't played together much. Perhaps he was just having an off-night. They do get their groove on better later in the show.Fans of Sam's Delmark LPs like West Side Soul and Black Magic will get rewarded. You keep hearing those classic tracks coming on over and over. Collectors will have to accept any decent live Magic Sam they can get into this world, and this one delivers.For now, the best-sounding official release I've heard so far of live Magic Sam except the two live tracks tacked onto the end of "The Late Great Magic Sam".Fans or collectors of Magic Sam, or classic electric West Side Chicago blues must add this CD to their collections.

This is one of the cleaner live recordings of Magic Sam. You can hear the nuances very well. His guitar work and singing are great as always and certain tracks are interesting to hear because I hadn't heard them elsewhere. I would say the energy of this performance is more relaxed than some others (such as the Ann Arbor '69 or the 1966 Sylvio's performances) but is worthwhile by all means.

Sam is great.

Hey, live sets, especially recorded as clean as this, for me are almost always superior if not just more real. Studio albums can be uneven and lose momentum. W.S.S. is special for the circumstances and a couple other songs, but this is forceful, soulful and really delivers.

With slightly better known live performance entries in his catalog, this one's a real surprise. Probably the earthiest and no-nonsense set of live blues ever issued under Magic Sam's name. Everything that made his legend---the stinging guitar, the emotional vocals---comes forward here. The sound quality could stand to be a little better but there's no arguing with the man, his crack accompanying band, or his spirit. This is a must-have for any Magic Sam fan.

There's something about a live recording in a club setting that you can't get with a studio recording. For one thing, there's no fixing any mischords or mislicks (mistakes). And there's the intimacy between the audience and the artist. This recording is very clean and sharp. By sharp I mean one can clearly hear the vocals and instruments. I read a review which said the bass player was hard to hear but I had no problem with this although the bass is not as prominent as the guitar and drums. I highly recommend this recording.

Fantastic album. I have other live recordings, but this is best live Magic Sam that I have heard. Excellent sound quality. What can I say that hasn't already been said? One song you can find here is Lookin' Good. This song is the full version of the show stopping song that you only got to see a part of on the American Folk Blues Festival DVD, called Magic Sam's Boogie there. Wow!

You know something? I think this was the Album of the Year 2017. Every year since 1965 I have made that award. To qualify a record must have been heard for the first time during that calendar year.This is an electric power trio fronted up by Sam Maghett who tragically died in his very early thirties shortly after recording this. As people like Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf were still active in Chicago, it was difficult for youngsters like Sam to get a gig there so he went up into Wisconsin to do this gig, which was recorded in one take live. It is a crystal clear analogue recording on high density vinyl, on the label who released Sam's only two studio albums. If you're a fan of Waters or even Hendrix, treat yourself. You'll love this

This a first rate album of Magic Sam playing live at a small night club in 1968. If you like blues guitar, this is an album that well worth adding to your collection.Magic Sam was one of the great bluesmen of the 1960s. Many of the tracks on this album have been covered by other players (and in the Blues Brothers movies) and so should will be familiar to blues fans.Unfortunately, Magic Sam died young (in 1969, aged 32, the year after this performance was recorded) and his name is not as well known these days as it should be.This album is just over 67 minutes of great blues guitar and vocal. The bass player and drummer playing behind Magic Sam are very good and the music is well recorded and sounds good. Although this is a live show, audience noise is minimal; the microphones used to record this appear to have been very unidirectional.My only complaint about the album is that the guitar is occasionally too prominent in the mix and drowns out the bass and drums. But that's a very minor issue. Some listeners might actually consider the guitar's prominence in the mix to be a very desirable feature, as it allows anyone studying Magic Sam's playing technique to clearly hear everything he's doing.Overall, this is a first rate blues guitar album by one of the great bluesmen of the 1960s. If you're not familiar with Magic Sam, this album would be a good introduction. If you already know about Magic Sam, this album is well worth adding to your blues collection.Amazon's Canadian site does not show a track listing for this album, so here it is:1. San-Ho-Zay2. Don't Want No Woman3. I Need You So Bad4. Feelin' Good5. It's All Your Fault Baby6. You Belong To Me7. Bad Luck Blues8. Come On In This House9. Hoochie Cootchie Man10. Still A Fool11. That's All I Need12. All Your Love (I Miss Loving)13. That's All Right14. Lookin' Good15. Everynight Everyday16. Hully Gully Twist

Que dire de plus, sinon que c'est un magnifique disque.Ce concert datant de presque 50 ans, le son étant plus que correct, les compositions intemporelles !Je regretterai toujours de ne l'avoir jamais vu...

Per tutti quelli che non hanno mai sentito il blues, per tutti quelli che amano il blues, per tutti quelli che grazie alle dodici battute vedono l'acqua e il sole, la luce e il buio, e per tutti quelli che ascoltano l'attimo fuggente di una nota blues giusto il tempo di chiudere gli occhi e volare con l'anima, la stessa anima blues del grande Magic Sam

買う前にレビューを見てみるとあんまり良くないのかな？と思ったのだが、聴いてびっくり！これすっごく良い！です。普段着のマジック・サムがいます！他のアルバムではバリッ！というギターサウンドですが、このアルバムはナチュラル・オーヴァードライヴがほとんどかかっていない、パリっとした音なのですがこの音もいいですねぇ〜、と目尻？耳尻？が下がりまくります。畳の上にごろんと横になってリラックスした状態で聴くとすっごーく気持ちが良いアルバムです。1月6日なんですがいきなり今年度のＢＥＳＴ　ＢＵＹ！に巡り会えたかも？