Bob Stroger and The Headcutters That’s My Name

February 23, 2022

Bob Stroger & The Headcutters

That’s My Name

Delmark

Bassist/vocalist/songwriter, ninety-two-year-old “Sir” Bob Stroger proves that it’s never too late to take center stage. Moving out from his comfortable spot on the back line, where he’s been a sideman on over 30 Delmark releases, That’s My Name marks Stroger’s first album as a leader. And he’s not doing it with his usual Chicago crew, instead working with the Brazilian-based Headcutters, one of the most renowned blues bands in Brazil for the past two decades. They have an ‘old school’ style that traces to the historic Chicago blues sound of the fifties and sixties. The Headcutters are based in the beach town of Itajai in the state of Santa Catarina and have remarkably backed artists such as Billy Branch, Kim Wilson, Mud Morganfield, and Eddie C Campbell. Modestly, they don’t call themselves bluesmen, ascribing that territory to the great African Americans, whose sound they just adore and replicate well. The name pays tribute to their idols – Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Jimmy Rogers who in the early ‘5os were called The Headhunters.

Of course, Stroger, a product of The Great Migration to Chicago, began touring with Otis Rush in the ‘70s and went on to play with so many Chicago greats. The album is a mix of a five of his originals as well as classics he loves. The Headcutters are Joe Marhofer (harmonica), Ricardo Maca (guitar), Arthur “Catuto’ Garcia (bass), and Leandro ‘Cavera’ Barbeta (drums). Guests are Luciano Leases (piano and B3) and Braion Johnny (saxophones). The album was recorded mostly in Brazil during 2019 and 2020. As you’d expect with Delmark, it’s a traditional blues outing in every way.

Stroger’s well-honed blues phrasing is on display in the first three tracks, covering Jr. Parker’s “What Goes On in the Dark,” Eddie Taylor’s “Just a Bad Boy,” and Ma Rainey’s chestnut “CC Rider.” The Headcutters provide solid support and if one didn’t know better, would think that this a crack Chicago blues outfit that knows how to fill, when to step out, and when to push to the front man. Stroger, who sings in a world-weary, limited vocal range but eminently convincing style, has his first two originals come in the slow, gruff “I’m a Busy Man” and the pulsing shuffle “Come On Home.” Tunes such as the low-down “Move to the Outskirts of Town” and Big Bill Broonzy’s “Just a Dream” showcases the chops of harmonicist Marhofer and pianist Leases, the latter of whom drives Jay McShann’s “Keep Your Hands Off Her.”

Stroger delivers his piano/harmonica driven “Something Strange” and follows it with another great Jr. Parker tune, the vintage slow blues “Stranded in St. Louis.” Alternating tempos as they do throughout, the bouncy “Pretty Girl,” with guitarist Maca’s best moments follows and with a sleight of sequencing his own “Talk to Me Mama” follows. Finally in words that echo the great Willie Dixon’s album title I Am the Blues, here’s a lyric snippet from the title track, “You can call me Bob Stroger, you can call me anything you choose, but my real name is the blues. I am the blues.” There’s no argument there.

You’re left wondering why it took so long for Stroger to assume the leader’s role but at the same time, we should be grateful that one of the original Chicago bluesmen is still thriving.

Jim Hynes

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