Southwest Musical Arts Foundation: Various Artists
Although Phoenix hardly compares to other cites when it comes to good R&B, blues, doo-wop, gospel and jazz, there is some astonishingly high-quality material out there and a lot of it is on this compilation. There are a whopping 27 tracks and not a single dud among them.
Surprised? For a city of its size and location, the R&B scene in Phoenix was fairly healthy. There were a bunch of clubs that many big-name touring acts would hit for a gas money engagement while traveling the LA-Texas highway. Some even settled there, enjoying the warm, sunny climate.
Many of these songs are from impossibly rare singles or were unissued at the time. The title track is an instrumental with some great whammy bar action by Jimmy "Playboy" Knight, a guitar disciple of the late great Ike Turner. There's country blues from The Lone Wolf, doo-wop from The Tads, jazz from The Curtis Gray Combo, and gospel from Rev. Louis Overstreet and Willie Parker; plus some great blues from Big Pete Pearson, Roosevelt Nettles, Duke Draper, and many more.
In terms of sheer musical enjoyment, this CD is an essential addition to any collection. It's also a very important historical document of the city's 50s and 60s music scene that has been long overlooked. I can't recommend it enough.
Flyin' High is currently only available online here: BlueBeatMusic.com/product_info.php?products_id=17277
