Erwin helper

Erwin Helfer (born January 21, 1936 in Chicago , Illinois ) is an American blues , boogie-woogie and jazz pianist .

Life

Helfer was born in Chicago and grew up there. As a child he was more interested in classical music, but his teenage years in Chicago in the 1950s almost inevitably brought him into contact with the blues. The classic training can still be heard today in his playing style. His musical influences include Cripple Clarence Lofton , Speckled Red and Sunnyland Slim . After studying at Tulane University in New Orleans , from which he graduated with a degree in music, he began his career as a professional musician. Estelle Yancey , the wife of pianist Jimmy Yancey , persuaded him to join her as the successor to Little Brother Montgomery . This started a lifelong friendship that only ended with Yancey's death in 1986. In the 1960s and 1970s he played with Jimmy Walker, with whom he also recorded two albums. In 1982 Helfer started his own record label, Red Beans , which released albums by Estelle Yancey, Blind John Davis , Johnny "Big Moose" Walker and other Chicago blues artists.

He still performs regularly today, for example at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Debrecen Jazz Festival and the Chicago Blues Festival , but also in many clubs in the city, such as the Hungry Brain in 2018 . In 2003 he was nominated for the Blues Music Award. In 2006 the city of Chicago named a street called Erwin Helfer Way in his honor.

Discography

Albums

• 1974 - Blues, Boogie Woogie Piano Duets & Solos ( Flying Fish )
• 1976 - Boogie Piano Chicago Style ( Big Bear )
• 1979 - On the Sunny Side of the Street (Flying Fish)
• 1987 - Chicago Piano (Red Beans)
• 2001 - I'm Not Hungry but I Like to Eat - Blues ( Sirens )
• 2003 St. James Infirmary (with Skinny Williams) (Sirens)
• 2005 - Careless Love (Sirens) with Avreeayl Ra

Guest appearances

• Mama Estella Yancey Maybe I'll Cry (1983)
• Howard & the White Boys Strung Out on the Blues (1995)
• 8 Hands on 88 Keys: Chicago Blues Piano Masters (2002)
• Heavy Timbre: Chicago Boogie Piano (2002)
• Barrelhouse Chuck Prescription for the Blues (2002)
• Ella Jenkins Sharing Cultures with Ella Jenkins (2003)
• Barrelhouse Chuck Chicago Blues Piano, Vol. 2 (2007)
• Andrew Calhoun Bound to Go (2008)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ All about Jazz - Biography ( Memento of the original from September 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ CD Universe