Paul Oscher – Live at the Tombs House of Detention
Blues Fidelity Records
12 songs – 50 minutes
Here’s a treat for you! Paul Oscher died of COVID in 2021. But before his passing, he bestowed a huge catalog of unreleased performances to Blues Fidelity Records in the hope of continuing his legacy for future generations. And that’s exactly what the label is doing with this stellar CD, the first of several planned Oscher releases to follow.
Paul was still a teenager when Muddy Waters hired him to play harp in his band. The first white musician ever to be part of Muddy’s organization, he lived in Waters’ basement with keyboard player Otis Spann for a long period, enabling Oscher to pick up major piano and guitar skills, too – talents that he displayed throughout his life.
This set was captured at Christmastime in the late ‘80s, when Paul and an ensemble of top New York talent performed at the Manhattan House of Detention – aka The Tombs, bringing momentary joy to an enthusiastic audience that was incarcerated in one of the most notorious jails in America.
Paul sticks to harp and guitar with a veteran rhythm second composed of drummer Candy McDonald (Johnny Copeland, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee) and bassist Steve Gomes (Ronnie Earl, Coco Montoya) with David Maxwell – another Spann disciple – on the 88s. Bob Gaddy – a major R&B artist in his own right – and Rose Melody – who worked regularly with Oscher throughout his career – make guest appearances on vocals.
An understated treasure, Paul kicks off the action with two Little Walter classic, “Off the Wall” and “Blue Midnight,” fluidly delivering harp lines and giving McDonald and Maxwell space to play call-and-response to his lead. And the audience roars enthusiastically. The next two tunes feature Gaddy – who previously scored huge hits with “Operator” and “Rip and Run” – on piano and mic. His version of Big Joe Turner’s “Flip, Flop and Fly” brings the audience to its feet and clapping rhythmically in response before a stellar take on the Chuck Willis burner, “You’re Still My Baby.”
Melody – who appeared with Paul on his early recordings on Victoria Spivey’s label – joins the action for the first time for “Stagolee,” a rock-steady duet with Gaddy, before taking command solo for a languorous take on “Stormy Monday” Melody with Oscher delivering stinging guitar lines throughout. Then Maxwell comes to the fore, showing why he was a perennial BMA Pinetop Perkins piano player of the year nominee with a pair of instrumentals, a rollicking version of Meade Lux Lewis’ “Honky Tonk Train” and a dazzling take on “After Hours,” the Erskine Hawkins classic.
Oscher remains in support as Gaddy and Melody return to the stage and team on the familiar “Kansas City,” the Johnnie Taylor hit, “Steal Away,” and “Silent Night” before Paul closes the night on guitar with the down-and-dirty “Slideaway,” a reworking of the Freddie King classic, “Hide Away.”
This one will leave you with a smile. Sure, the recording techniques used in the ‘80s don’t hold a candle to what we have today. That aside, Live at the Tombs is a whole lot of fun. Here’s hoping there are more Oscher treasures from the vault on the immediate horizon.
