JOHNNY IGUANA played piano on albums with Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Derek Trucks and James Cotton before releasing his own acclaimed 2020 Delmark debut: the kaleidoscopic full-band experience Johnny Iguana’s Chicago Spectacular! featuring Billy Boy Arnold, John Primer, Lil’ Ed and many other Chicago blues greats. “Johnny Iguana’s Chicago Spectacular! is the story of a unique pianist who honors his Chicago blues heroes, while leaving his own mark on the classic sound. It is compelling proof that blues music is still vital today and is still evolving.”
“Johnny Iguana sounds like a saloon pianist from the Wild West brought to the future.” American Blues Scene
A bold follow-up to his 2020 Delmark debut, Johnny Iguana; At Delmark is a solo acoustic affair, performed on Delmark’s 1917 Steinway B piano. A new chapter in the story of the venerable label’s solo piano albums, At Delmark was recorded in unedited single takes, straight to analog tape. In a world dominated by Auto-Tune and other such musical correction, Delmark Records and Johnny Iguana chose to make this album the old-fashioned way: as Johnny puts it, “‘Go in the live room and kick up some racket, with the tape rolling. And that's exactly how this album was made, in three afternoons.”
The release will appear on LP, CD, hi-res digital, and streaming on all platforms, while the audiophile reel-to-reel release will be distributed in partnership with Revox/Analog Arts.
Junior Wells, who recorded with Johnny’s piano hero Otis Spann on the Delmark classic Southside Blues Jam and who brought Johnny from New York to Chicago to join the Junior Wells Blues Band in 1994, would be thrilled by this album. Johnny’s formidable chops, deep blues knowledge and wide-ranging creativity are on full display across this set of original compositions plus Johnny’s spins on everything from Little Brother Montgomery and Jay McShann to AC/DC and Neil Young—not to mention fresh takes on classics by Delmark icons Junior Wells and Magic Sam. This is an exuberant, passionate, powerhouse outing.
Johnny Iguana, together with his longtime songwriting/producing partner JQ, is the composer of the original score for the smash, Emmy-winning FX/Hulu series “The Bear.” Johnny also co-led renowned Chicago indie-rockers Oh My God and has released 10 years of acclaimed albums with his piano-powered “garage cabaret” band The Claudettes.
Chicago is Johnny’s home, but he’s still an East Coast punk-rock kid at heart (he initially wanted to call At Delmark “Alone and Acoustic and Totally Wired,” a nod to UK punk legends The Fall). He grew up in Philadelphia, where he studied piano from age eight and played in rock and punk bands before developing an obsession with Chicago blues at age 16. He moved to New York City at age 22, where he met one of his greatest musical heroes, Junior Wells. He was hired by Junior after auditioning live at the Boston House of Blues and moved to Chicago in 1994. He toured with Junior for three years, toured with Otis Rush and has since recorded on countless blues albums including three Grammy nominees. A short list of Johnny’s major musical inspirations: Otis Spann, Jay McShann, Ray Charles, Mose Allison, Bobby Timmons, Mike Watt, Bob Mould, Joe Strummer, Captain Beefheart and Junior Wells. Johnny is a proud carrier of tradition (including the Chicago blues that uprooted him from his East Coast home and planted him firmly in the Windy City) but is even more proud to have developed a highly rhythmic, very “in-the-moment” keyboard style that sounds like no one else.
TRACK LIST:
➊ Bass Key Boogie 2:58 Little Brother Montgomery (Delmark Records Admin)
➋ Heart of Gold 2:30 Neil Young (Silver Fiddle Music, ASCAP)
➌ For Dancers Only 2:20 Brian Berkowitz (Om God Music, ASCAP)
➍ Stormy Night at a Moroccan Blues Bar 3:01 Brian Berkowitz (Om God Music, ASCAP)
➎ Messin’ with the Kid 4:16 Mel R. London (World International Publishing Co, BMI)
➏ Tripping in a French Ambulance 3:32 Brian Berkowitz (Om God Music, ASCAP)
➐ One More, for the Cleaning Crew 2:43 Brian Berkowitz (Om God Music, ASCAP)
➑ You Never Can Tell 3:21 Chuck Berry (Isalee Music Productions, BMI)
➒ You Belong to Me 4:08 Samuel Maghett (Conrad Music, Leric Music, BMI)
➓ Welcome Distractions 2:22 Brian Berkowitz (Om God Music, ASCAP)
⓫ Riff Raff 3:56 Young, Young, Scott (Australian Music Corp. PTY Ltd., APRA,Sony/ATV Tunes, ASCAP)
⓬ Roll ‘Em 3:06 Jay McShann (Delmark Records Admin)
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