The raw immediacy and tight instrumental attack of {|the Paul Butterfield Blues Band|}'s self-titled debut album were startling and impressive in 1965, but the following year, the group significantly upped the ante with its second LP, {|East-West|}. ... Read more

The raw immediacy and tight instrumental attack of {|the Paul Butterfield Blues Band|}'s self-titled debut album were startling and impressive in 1965, but the following year, the group significantly upped the ante with its second LP, {|East-West|}. The debut showed that {|Butterfield|} and his bandmates could cut tough, authentic blues (not a given for an integrated band during the era in which fans were still debating if a white boy could play the blues) with the energy of rock & roll, but {|East-West|} was a far more ambitious set, with the band showing an effective command of jazz, Indian raga, and garagey proto-psychedelia as well as razor-sharp electric blues. {|Butterfield|} was the frontman, and his harp work was fierce and potent, but the core of the band was the dueling guitar work of {|Mike Bloomfield|} and {|Elvin Bishop|}, especially {|Bloomfield|}'s ferocious, acrobatic solos, while {|Mark Naftalin|}'s keyboards added welcome washes of melodic color, and the rhythm section of bassist {|Jerome Arnold|} and drummer {|Billy Davenport|} were capable of both the rock-solid support of veteran blues players and the more flexible and artful pulse of a jazz combo, rising and relaxing with the dynamics of a performance. The {|Butterfield Blues Band|} sounded muscular and exciting on classic blues workouts like Walkin' Blues, Two Trains Running, and I Got a Mind to Give Up Living, but the highlights came when the band pushed into new territory, such as the taut New Orleans proto-funk of Get Out of My Life, Woman, the buzzy and mildly trippy Mary, Mary, and especially two lengthy instrumental workouts, the free-flowing jazz of {|Nat Adderley|}'s Work Song and the title track, a fiery mix of blues, psychedelia, Indian musical patterns, and several other stops in between, with {|Butterfield|}, {|Bloomfield|}, and {|Bishop|} blowing for all their worth. {|East-West|} would prove to be a pivotal album in the new blues-rock movement, and it was {|the Paul Butterfield Blues Band|}'s greatest achievement; {|Bloomfield|} would be gone by the time they cut their next LP to form {|the Electric Flag|}, and as good as {|Bishop|} was, losing the thrust and parry between the two guitarists was a major blow. But {|East-West|} captures a great group in high flight as the bandmembers join together in something even more remarkable than their estimable skills as individuals would suggest, and its importance as a nexus point between rock, blues, jazz, and world music cannot be overestimated. ~ Mark Deming Less