There is great historical significance to this 1960 record: not only was it the first solo album ever recorded by the great pianist Otis Spann, it was also the first album ever recorded for Nat Hentoff's short-lived but fruitful Candid label. However, the music within is anything but a mere footnote. Hentoff's philosophy was to let the artist's true musical nature come through in the studio, and his laissez-faire production style bore great results. For his debut, Spann employed only Robert Lockwood Jr. as his musical support, and the result is a pared-down, passionate, triumphant set that sheds light on Spann as a full-bodied vocalist as well as a pianist. The Mississippi-born Spann grew under the tutelage of Big Maceo and mastered the pounding barrelhouse piano style that Maceo brought with him to Chicago. Spann adapted this fierce, urgent style to the burgeoning electric small-band approach that was taking Chicago by storm, and he eventually became an integral element of Muddy Waters's peak ensemble. Here, with only Lockwood's guitar behind him, Spann is free to indulge in his florid runs and pulsing two-handed rhythmic attack, exploring the turf that connects the barrelhouse of his youth with the modern Chicago style. --Marc Greilsamer