Watching the Chicago blues with 'Big Eyes'

One of my favorite kind of blues is that good old-fashioned Chicago blues, and I got a chance to indulge that passion Friday night with former Muddy Waters drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith.

Smith doesn't do as much work as drummer any more, having easily shifted instead to his first instrument, the blues harmonica, which he plays with smooth passion. And with another Chicago blues vet, bass player Bob Stroger,

Smith's band brought the notes to Moondog's, making the Blawnox club sound more like sweet home Chicago (and thanks to Moondog's resistance to anything resembling modernization, the club does its part to keep the mood flowing).

Stroger opened both sets with vocal visits to some sturdy blues, including a fine take on the old warhorse, "Key to the Highway."

Then it was really a pleasure, as Bill from Elizabeth has already commented, to see these two fine old bluesmen play off of each other. Their guitar player, Frank Krakowski, held up his end of the bargain as well, with some wicked lines and classic fills, just the right complement for this Chicago effort..

Willie, of course, did the same kind of rambling down the Chicago blues highway with songs like "Mellow Down Easy," "C.C. Rider" and a splendid job on the Waters' classic, "Long Distance Call" (which, in great haste and in the unsteady wee hours, I called "Another Mule" in post right after the show Saturday night). Smith's vocals are gruff and smooth, and he can carry the weight of this venerable Chicago music.  

There were some original songs, too, but all in the same blues vein. The music was a living history lesson from two distinguished professors of the blues. And it was fun to watch.

What wasn't fun to watch was the sparse crowd that turned out. I know there a lot of people who love this music, but I don't why they don't want to grab it in what could always turn out to be one of its final passes through town. The bluesmen who helped bring us this music -- like Willie and Bob -- won't be around forever.

Of course, it could've been the presidential debate that kept everybody away. 'Cause it's true, if the wrong wrinkled ole white dude wins, there might be a heap of blues comin' round the bend.