The rollicking sounds of the Arkansas-born singer and pianist Roosevelt Sykes (1906-1983) are no secret to blues lovers. This piano blues master can make even bleak scenarios sound upbeat with his jaunty approach. Sykes developed his style in St. Louis, but he eventually moved on; the cuts on Love Lease Blues were recorded in Chicago and New York City in the 1930s and ’40s. The album contains two versions of one of his best-known songs, “Night Time Is the Right Time.” The first one, recorded in Chicago in 1937, finds Sykes at the top of his game, but the second, slower version, recorded a year later in New York, has its own distinctive flavor. (Big Bill Broonzy, who plays guitar on most of the album, is credited on the track, but he’s barely audible.) “Love Has Something to Say” is a gem of blues wisdom: “Everybody speaks of love/ but they don’t explain themselves / As soon as they have a little trouble / They’ll go and talk it over with somebody else.” And Sykes was famous for his sly humor, a quality prominently displayed on “Let the Black Cat Have His Way.”

iTunes

Spotify

Share