Hot Fingers

Hot Fingers, Catfish/Arpeggio's 25-track core sample from the first half of guitarist Lonnie Johnson's lengthy recording career, picks up the trail in January 1926 and follows his progress through February 1941. That was Johnson's pre-electric period, during which his amazing technique brought him into close contact with many of the top blues and jazz artists of his generation. While this sampler includes a good number of his heartfelt vocals (including the warmly romantic "In Love Again" and a healthy but not excessive quantity of straightforward blues), the primary focus is upon the instrumentals, which include several dazzling duets with guitarist Eddie Lang. This was one of the great duos of the 1920s, with extraordinary creative interplay. Other guests of honor are pianist Lil Armstrong and cornetist King Oliver, who added his own persona to "Jet Black Blues" as a member of Blind Willie Dunn's Gin Bottle Four. Who exactly was Blind Willie Dunn? Why, Fiddlin' Joe Venuti's famous sparring partner and Paul Whiteman Orchestra member Eddie Lang, that's who. As a light-skinned Italian working for a rigidly segregated entertainment industry, this classically trained guitar virtuoso was masked by a name that made him sound like a Southern rural bluesman whenever he made records in the company of African-American musicians. Lonnie Johnson's discography contains a number of excellent collections that focus on his pre-WWII accomplishments, and Catfish/Arpeggio's Hot Fingers rates with the best of them. ~ arwulf arwulf|