Professor Longhair

Almost every musical history contains at least one crucial forebear whose inventions were too bold to translate to a broad audience, but who was nonetheless a profound influence on subsequent generations, and therefore changed the culture at an odd remove—a musician's musician". In the nineteen-forties and fifties, that was Fess's stature. Roy Byrd aka Professor Longhair, his legacy looms larger than any other musical figure with the possible exception of Louis Armstrong. On THE BACH OF ROCK, Longhair bounces buoyantly through old favorites while adding some new songs into the mix. Fess's infectious vocals, jaunty ivory-tickling, and funky groove provide the ultimate soundtrack to the Crescent City and show exactly why the city has the reputation that it does. This superb two-disc set repeats the Professor's signature style--a stomping left-hand bass and a right hand that flies all over the place--on classics such as "Rum & Coca Cola" "Junco Partner," and "Ball the Wall." It begins in the early '50s, when 'Fess called his band Roy Byrd & His Blues Jumpers, and ends in the '70s with an incredible, stretched-out live version of "Big Chief" and "Tipitina."