Dave Specter (born May 21, 1963) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Biography

Hailing from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's Northwest side, Specter began to learn to play the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

at the age of 18. His teacher was Steve Freund, who taught Specter between the latter's duties at the Jazz Record Mart and

Delmark Records Delmark Records is an American jazz and blues independent record label. It was founded in 1958 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when then owner, and founder, Bob Koester released a record ...

. Freund ultimately organised a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

for Specter alongside Sam Lay and

Hubert Sumlin Hubert Charles Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer, best known for his "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions" as a member of Howlin ...

. Contacts made while working at the B.L.U.E.S.

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

secured gigs as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

Johnny Littlejohn John Wesley Funchess (April 16, 1931 – February 1, 1994) known professionally as John (or Johnny) Littlejohn, was an American electric blues slide guitarist. He was active on the Chicago blues circuit from the 1950s to the 1980s. Biography ...

Son Seals Frank "Son" Seals (August 13, 1942 – December 20, 2004) was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. In 2009, Seals was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Career Seals was born in Osceola, Arkansas, where his father, Jim "Son" Se ...

, and the Legendary Blues Band. By 1989 Specter had organized his own backing band, known as the Bluebirds. By 1998 Specter had released five albums on the Delmark label, combining a mixture of blues (Specter listed his influences as

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''Roll ...

Pee Wee Crayton Connie Curtis Crayton (December 18, 1914 – June 25, 1985), known as Pee Wee Crayton, was an American R&B and blues guitarist and singer. Career Crayton was born in Rockdale, Texas. He began playing guitar seriously after moving to California ...

Magic Sam Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

, and

Otis Rush Otis Rush Jr. (April 29, 1934 – September 29, 2018) was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. With qualities similar to the styles of other 1950s art ...

) and jazz (

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

is another inspiration). Specter does not sing, and he enlisted

Barkin' Bill Smith Barkin' Bill Smith (August 18, 1928 – April 24, 2000) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues singer and songwriter. He was born in Cleveland, Mississippi, and in his latter years lived in Chicago. Biography Smith was raised in M ...

as his first vocalist, performing on Specter's 1991 debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''Bluebird Blues''. Specter then made a guest appearance with

Jesse Fortune Jesse Fortune (February 28, 1930 – August 31, 2009) was an American Chicago blues singer and barber. Biography Born in Macon, Mississippi, Fortune was trained as a barber before moving to Chicago, Illinois, in 1952. In Chicago, he worked ...

, providing accompaniment on ''Fortune Tellin' Man'' (1993).

Harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

player and singer Tad Robinson took over on the Bluebirds' ''Blueplicity'' (1994) and ''Live In Europe'' (1995). Following Robinson's departure, Lynwood Slim became the band's vocalist. Jazz influences prevailed as time passed, and Specter invited

Brother Jack McDuff Eugene McDuff (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz er ...

to play the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

on the next album, ''Left Turn On Blue'' (1996). Lenny Lynn took over vocal duties on the following release, ''Blues Spoken Here'' (1998). In 2000, ''Speculatin appeared, but here Specter eschewed

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

altogether, issuing 13

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

tracks. ''Is What It Is'' with Steve Freund (2004) was followed by ''Live in Chicago'' (2008). In addition to his recordings, Specter undertakes frequent tours to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and beyond.

Discography

* ''Bluebird Blues'' (Delmark DD-652, 1991) - with

Ronnie Earl :''This article refers to the musician. For the district attorney of Travis County, Texas, see Ronnie Earle.'' Ronnie Earl (born Ronald Horvath, March 10, 1953, Queens, New York, United States) is an American blues guitarist and music instructo ...

* ''Fortune Tellin' Man'' - Jesse Fortune (Delmark DD-658, 1993) * ''Blueplicity'' (Delmark DD-664, 1994) - with Tad Robinson * ''Live in Europe'' (Delmark DE-677, 1995) - with Tad Robinson * ''Left Turn on Blue'' (Delmark DE-693, 1996) - with Lynwood Slim,

Jack McDuff Eugene McDuff (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001), known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era ...

* ''Blues Spoken Here'' (Delmark DE-721, 1998) - with Lenny Lynn, Eric Alexander * ''Speculatin (Delmark DE-744, 2000) * ''Is What It Is'' (Delmark DE-779, 2004) - with Steve Freund * ''Live in Chicago'' (Delmark DE-794, 2008) - with Jimmy Johnson, Tad Robinson, Sharon Lewis * ''Spectified'' (Fret12 30021, 2010) * ''Message in Blue'' (Delmark DE-836, 2014) - with

Otis Clay Otis Lee Clay (February 11, 1942 – January 8, 2016) was an American R&B and soul singer, who started in gospel music. In 2013, Clay was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame. Early life Clay was born in Waxhaw, Mississippi, to a musical family, ...

* ''Blues...from the Inside Out'' (Delmark DE-859, 2019) - with

Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist J ...

, Brother John Kattke

Legacy

Music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, Tony Russell wrote that "an extended, uncluttered view of Specter's music is noteworthy in his performance at a 1994

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

, in a quartet with the correspondingly idiomatic harmonica playing and soulful singing of Tad Robinson".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Specter, Dave 1963 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American Jews American blues guitarists American male guitarists American male songwriters Blues musicians from Illinois Guitarists from Chicago Jewish American musicians Jewish jazz musicians Living people American male jazz musicians Songwriters from Illinois

Biography

Discography

Legacy

See also

References