Floyd McDaniel & The Blues Swingers - Let Your Hair Down! (1994) [CD Rip]

Floyd McDaniel was 78 when, in 1994, he recorded Let Your Hair Down! for the Chicago-based Delmark. Through the years, the singer/guitarist had been the type of artist who had one foot in pre-bebop jazz and one in urban blues--and that approach continues to serve him nicely on this CD. McDaniel's credentials as a jump blues shouter are illustrated by inspired versions of Louis Jordan's "Caldonia," T-Bone Walker's "Blue Mood" and Roy Milton's "R.M. Blues," while his talents as a jazz singer are evident on Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean That Thing" and Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child." On this album, McDaniel leads a cohesive, swinging octet known as the Blues Swingers, which consists of a hard-swinging rhythm section and four horn players, including trumpeter Mike McLaughlin, tenor saxophonist Dave Clark, alto saxophonist Paul Mundy and baritone saxophonist/clarinetist Martin "Van" Kelly. Let Your Hair Down! would be among McDaniel's last recordings; the veteran artist died the following year. ~Alex Henderson