And This Is Maxwell Street

On Sunday mornings at Chicago's famous Maxwell Street open-air market, busking bluesmen would battle with hawkers, preachers, and dancers for coveted space. In 1964 filmmaker Mike Shea chronicled this bubbling scene for his landmark documentary And This is Free; in the process, he preserved stunning examples of raw, informal, gritty, undeniably urban blues, the best of which is included on these two revelatory CDs. Amazingly, legendary figures like Robert Nighthawk and Carey Bell were as likely to show up as any number of local gospel singers and blues pickers. Nighthawk's tenacious saw-toothed guitar work and Bell's swooping harp are well documented here, as is the work of lesser-known Chicago players like Johnny Young and Big John Wrencher. However, in this setting, the songs of obscure players like Arvella Gray, who performed solo with a Dobro, and the James Brewer gospel singers seem nearly as important. Rooster Blues's superb package includes incredibly detailed annotation, which does an admirable job in trying to sort out the correct players and songwriters, and crisp remastering--two things that the unauthorized Rounder single-disc issue lacks--plus a bonus third disc featuring young Mike Bloomfield's interview with Nighthawk. Like field recordings are to country blues, these street recordings are much more than mere music--they are compelling historical documents. --Marc Greilsamer