Personnel: Steve Freund (vocals, guitar); Boz Scaggs, Dave Specter, Pete Crawford (guitar); Kim Wilson (harmonica); Terry Hanck, Sam Burckhardt (tenor saxophone); Willie Henderson (baritone saxophone); David Maxwell, Wendy DeWitt (piano); Rob Waters, Austin de Lone (organ); Harlan Terson, Tim Wagar, Justin O'Brien (bass); Bob Carter, Mark Fornek, Kevin Coggins, Mot Dutko (drums); Paula Burns (background vocals).
Engineers: Steve Wagner, J. Michael Rodriguez.
Recorded at Riverside Studio, Chicago, Illinois; Meac Studio, San Francisco, California. Includes liner notes by George Hansen.
Personnel: Steve Freund (vocals, guitar); Mark Hannon (vocals); Boz Scaggs (guitar); Kim Wilson (harmonica); Sam Burckhardt, Terry Hanck (tenor saxophone); Willie Henderson (baritone saxophone); David Maxwell (piano, organ); Wendy DeWitt (piano); Austin DeLone, Rob Waters (organ); Mark Fornek, Bot Dutko, Kevin Coggins, Bob Carter (drums); Paula Burns (background vocals).
Liner Note Author: George Hansen.
Recording information: Riverside Studio, Chicago, IL (02/12/1997/06/03/1999).
Photographers: Harvey Tillis; Kate Hoddinott.
No one will accuse Steve Freund of having the greatest voice in the blues world. While Freund is an impressive guitarist, he is merely adequate as a singer. But when you're evaluating an album, it is important to look at the big picture. Taking different things into consideration -- impressive chops, adequate singing, likable songwriting -- one concludes that "C" for Chicago, although slightly uneven, has more plusses than minuses. Freund won't blow you away with a great voice, but he still gets his points across on enjoyable (if derivative) Chicago-style blues numbers like "Everytime I Get to Drinking," "Working Man," and "Please Love Me" (which employs Boz Scaggs as a second guitarist). One of the CD's most memorable tracks is "I Love Money," a humorous account of having champagne tastes and a beer budget. Like so many blues songs that have been recorded over the years -- or, for that matter, country songs -- "I Love Money" manages to laugh at life's disappointments. Freund also provides a few instrumentals -- which include "Mr. Jackson's Boogie" and the jazz-influenced "Cool Dream" -- and that is a good thing because they give him a chance to really stretch out on electric guitar. Although "C" for Chicago is a Chicago blues album first and foremost, Freund shows his appreciation of jazz at times. And that is why he was lucky to have guitarist/singer Dave Specter produce this album. A versatile musician, Specter has one foot in the blues and the other in jazz, and he serves Freund well on this generally decent but imperfect effort. ~ Alex Henderson
