**** Memphis Slim

MEMPHIS SLIM U.S.A.

(Delmark)

Swinging blues and boogie don't get better than these 15 sides (with four alternate takes). And they've rarely sounded better either. This album continues Delmark's raid on the vaults of the United label, which did its work in Chicago's famed Universal Studios, which was Duke Ellington's favorite place to record. Every nuance of the band comes through -- especially the dynamics of the late Slim's booming, resonant voice (he was a smooth and powerful blues shouter along the lines of Big Joe Turner, but with more subtle control of his voice) and the timbre of the wailing saxophones.

These sessions, from '52 and '53, also capture then 22-year-old Matt "Guitar" Murphy, a budding genius whose sliding chords and jazzy scales keep the music distinctly uptown. He's especially hot on the guitar instrumental "Backbone Boogie," blazing over the romping beat. But it's Slim's show, and the grown-up tears of "Got To Find My Baby" as well as the cocky defiance of "Memphis Slim U.S.A." show a beautifully expressive range that was as big as this giant of man himself.

-- Ted Drozdowski