Both pianists on this bill play a rollicking mix of blues, boogie-woogie, and jazz-tinged standards, but there are big differences between their musical personalities. ERWIN HELFER was heavily influenced by 30s and 40s Chicago boogie masters like Cripple Clarence Lofton and Big Maceo. He also spent time in New Orleans, where he learned from Preservation Hall traditionalists and early R & B firebrands like Archibald (whose recording of “Stack-a-Lee” in 1950 set the stage for Lloyd Price’s famous 1959 version). His style balances the gleeful rowdiness of a Bronzeville rent party or Storyville whorehouse with an introspective, almost autumnal melodic elegance, all propelled by driving boogie rhythms touched with echoes of Crescent City second-line strut.
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Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Michael Jackson.
