Jack McVea: McVoutie’s Central Avenue Blues

To most fans of vintage American music the scene of Central Avenue in the Forties needs no introduction. A hot spot arguably unrivaled at the time, it was a place painted in the florid and exciting hues of African American music on the move. Numerous strains of blues coupled hedonistically with the improvisatory elements of jazz creating a wealth and variety of sounds that fortunately and frequently made it on to record. A lesser-known fulcrum of the scene Jack McVea, christened McVoutie by the redoubtable wordsmith Slim Galliard, was in fact one of the most in-demand session men of the day. Adopting a “have horn will play” attitude he gigged regularly with everyone from T-Bone Walker to Floyd Dixon.

McVea’s sessions as a sideman with Texas-born vocalist/drummer Rabon Tarrant are the focus of the collection, but the savvy folks at Delmark wisely intersperse other artists amongst the thirteen Tarrant-led tracks. The strategy suggests a two-fold purpose showing off McVea’s versatility within the rather stolid R&B and jump blues idioms while also injecting a healthy dose of variety into the program. McVea’s sultry lines compliment Tarrant to a “T,” embellishing and accentuating where they could just as easily trample and interfere. The vocalist responds in earnest, at turns belting or crooning the vernacular lyrics with a brio that routinely turns infectious.

On the slower numbers guitar chording echoes the subtle strum of vintage Nawlins banjo. Gene Phillips cutting amplified style on the Harris tracks traces a different lineage straight back to T-Bone Walker, sparring eagerly with the blustery brass of the famous R&B shouter’s horn section. The quartet of cuts (comprised of two alternates) under McVea’s own leadership are tailored from typical templates of the day- instrumental blowing vehicles that burn bright and fast (“O-Kay For Baby”) or smolder with romantic longing (“Don’t Blame Me”). Arguably the most intriguing line-up for jazz fans is the Tarrant Octet session featuring then-youthful legends Lucky Thompson and Charles Mingus in the band (“I’ll Be True” and “Hey Hey Hey Baby”), but the other aggregations contain exciting soloists/accompanists as well. In sum this is a set that spotlights an under appreciated saxophonist and elucidates his stature in a time and place that is still reverberating in popular music over a half century later.

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