Eddie Shaw 5 zyxwvu

EDDIE SHAW zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

(1937 - )

W hen it comes to blues, Chicago is primarily a guitar and harmonica tow n. One of the few excep-
tions to that rule is renowned Chicago blues Saxophonist Eddie Shaw. In a career that has
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
spanned over forty years, Shaw has played w ith many of the Chicago's legendary bluesmen, including
Ho w lin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, W illie Dixo n, Freddy King, Hound Dog Taylor,
and Earl Hooker.

A s a teenager growing up in Greenville, M S, Eddie Shaw backed up R & B greats Little Milto n and
Ike Turner. Equally adept at playing swing and blues, Shaw was hired by Muddy Waters after sitting in
w ith his band in 1958. Shaw moved to Chicago at Muddy's request. One night at a gig, Shaw had an ar-
gument w ith fellow band members over the sloppiness of the band's Performance and quit the gig before
Muddy arrived that night. He packed up his horn, w alked five blocks down the street, and sat in w ith
Muddy's chief rival, Ho w lin' Wolf. Wo lf immediately hired him, and that began a nearly twenty-year aL
liance. Shaw became Wolf's right-hand man, eventually performing the duties of bandleader, arranger,
and road managen

Shaw's reputation as a sideman continued to grow w ith his stellar Performances on W o lfs '65-67
Chess recordings and Magic Sam's 1968 releasezyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
Black Magic (Delmark). Shaw's ow n recording career
began taking off after W o lfs death in 1976. W ith a scintillating Performance on A lligator Records' Living
Chicago Blues anthology released in 1978, Shaw's solo career gained momentum. Eddie Shaw continues
to tour and record w ith his own band, Eddie Shaw and the W o lf Gang.

M usically Speaking:

" I think playing the horn Uke 1 do is something Uke the old Baptist preacher, W hen a Baptist preacher
preaches in church, everybody listens. He shouts out what he wants you to hear, and he brings it to you in such
a way that youW e gonna listen. So that's the same way I try to do it with the Saxophone, l try to have a good at-
tack, dont try to phy a lot of notes, try to stay with the basics and teil a good story,''

A s told to Bill Dahl, Chicago Tribne, Sunday 9/ 20/ 92.

The foUowing is an example of a Standard 12-bar Chicago blues shuffle w ith a traditional V - I V
turnaround instead of the jazzier ii- V 7 turnaround. Eddie Shaw likes to play on the front side of the beat
to create rhythmic tension, as opposed to the laid-back style of someone Uke Gene A mmons or Maxw ell
Davis (to be discussed later). Using a composite blues scale that features a minor 3rd and a major 3rd
( A - C - C t- D - E^ ^ - E' ^ - G ) , nearly every C# is preceded by a C^. Shaw has a penchant for using the A
minor pentatonic scale ( A - C - D - E - G ) on the IV chords. This creates an implied sus4 chord sound due
to the third of the chord (p t) being omitted.

A t measure CIO , a chromatic run up the scale starting on the major 7 of the D7 chord builds ten-
sion leading into the last chorus. Section D is a Standard riff that can be incorporated into your impro-
visation or used as a background riff behind someone eise's solo.