Jazz Articles about Otis Spann

Otis Spann: Best of the Vanguard Years

by Ed Kopp
September 1, 1999

Nowhere are Otis Spann’s piano skills better showcased than on this CD’s first five tracks, lifted from the classic 1969 album Chicago/The Blues/Today! Volume 1. These cuts feature Spann in a spare format with drummer S.P. Leary as his only backing, and they contain some of the most accomplished blues piano ever recorded. The rest of the CD ain’t too shabby, either. Best of the Vanguard Years assembles material from the aforementioned Chicago blues compilation, the entire 1969 ...