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Mississippi Heat
Cab Driving Man
Delmark DE 848

The Heat is turned up again for another chapter in the 30-year history of Pierre Lacocque’s Mississippi Heat. The Living Blues review of their previous album said “Warning Shot (Delmark 839) showcases bandleader and principal songwriter Lacocque’s eloquent harp playing, supported by a cast of heavy hitters that delivers the trademark big band sound…one of the hottest, tightest bands in Chicago today, and the original songs on this album are pure fun and are worthy additions to the great history of Chicago blues.” Cab Driving Man features 16 new songs with Inetta Visor and Michael Dotson as lead vocalists again. The songs are a wonderful blend of Mississippi, Chicago, boogie, swing and south of the border.

1 Cupid Bound 3:29
2 Cab Driving Man 3:34
3 That Late Night Stuff 4:05
4 Flowers On My Tombstone 4:53
5 Icy Blue 3:48
6 The Last Go Round 4:26
7 Life Is Too Short 3:25
8 Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing 3:29
9 Rosalie 4:54
10 Luck Of The Draw 4:32
11 Mama Kaila 5:08
12 Music Is My Life 5:38
13 Lonely Eyes 3:48
14 Smooth Operator 4:19
15 Can’t Get Me No Traction 4:35
16 Hey Pipo! 3:05


All songs written by Pierre. Lacocque, Ransart Music, BMI; except
2 by Lacocque/Cameron, Ransart Music, BMI/Chi-Bone Music, ASCAP;
3,6,15 by Michael Dotson, Gritty City Music, ASCAP;
8 by Oliver Sain, Chevis Publishing Corp., BMI;
14 by Otis/Stein, Eden Music Inc., BMI.

www.mississippiheat.net
Lyrics can be found on the band’s web site

Pierre Lacocque, harmonica, bandleader
Inetta Visor, vocals, tambourine (16)
Michael Dotson, vocals (3,6,15), guitar
(solos on 1,3,4,6,7,11,15)
Giles Corey, vocal (8), guitar (solos on 5,8,9)
Brian Quinn, electric and acoustic bass,
except 12 by Ricky Nelson
Terrence Williams, drums (except 1, 4, 7)
Kenny Smith, drums (1, 4, 7)
Chris “Hambone” Cameron, piano, organ, and clavinet, except 4,12 by Sumito Ariyo
Dave Specter, guitar 10
Ruben Alvarez, percussion 2,9,13,14
Sax Gordon, tenor and baritone saxophone 1,2,3,9,14

Album Production and Supervision: Robert G. Koester
Produced by Steve Wagner and Pierre Lacocque
Recorded on April 18th and 19th, 2016 at Riverside Studio, Chicago by Steve Wagner
Mixed by Steve Wagner and Dave Katzman
Photography: Alfonso Zirpoli
Illustration: Frederick H. Carlson
Design: Djavan Wagner, Haute Graphics


The blues are universal and there's no better example perhaps than a multiracial Chicago band inspired by the Mississippi Delta led by a talented Belgian blues harpist with a French sounding name who travel well, spreading their blues power from Montreal to Istanbul and other faraway pockets of American roots music lovers.
Founded in 1991, Pierre Lacocque (pronounced La-coke) and Mississippi Heat have become a repository of traditional Chicago electric blues with an evolving cast of members and guests. Little wonder that Pierre has often felt like a sideman in his own band that has included veteran Windy City blues performers such as John Primer, Carl Weathersby, Deitra Farr, Billy Flynn, Katherine Davis, Kenny Smith, Bob Stroger and Robert Covington. Truthfully though, it's Pierre's singular vision and devotion to his craft as harpist, songwriter, arranger and producer that has held this dynamic blues collective together all these years in a business that is notoriously fickle. “We all need some sort of a purpose”, says Pierre, “and whatever you do, you have to love it.”
Since the last Delmark album, Warning Shot was released in 2014, there have been significant developments for Mississippi Heat. Pierre has been able to maintain the band on a full time basis and the addition of a European booking agent greatly increased their presence overseas. In terms of radio airplay, Warning Shot was the band's most successful album ever, charting almost immediately and occupying the #1 position on Living Blues magazine's chart for five months in a row.
With increased activity and acclaim there is more stability. The Mississippi Heat lineup has crystallized around a core of key players, especially over the last two albums. Besides Pierre, it's Inetta Visor, the talented longtime lead singer for whom he is able to craft songs from a feminine perspective. Guitarist Michael Dotson also writes and sings, and by Pierre's own admission, challenges him to do his best instrumentally. And there's the experienced rhythm section of Brian Quinn on bass and Terrence Williams on drums, the latter who has taken over more of the percussion duties as Kenny Smith has become more in demand as a touring musician.
The latest chapter in the Mississippi Heat story is Cab Driving Man; the title track is a Pierre original inspired musically by the legendary Cab Calloway (“Minnie the Moocher”) with its minor key, cabaret style. Calloway is mostly linked to Harlem and Hollywood but he also attended college in Chicago, an ultimately unsuccessful venture for a young man because of too much nightlife; it was in Chicago that Calloway met Louis Armstrong. Many years later, his last major acting role would come in “The Blues Brothers”, a film that also contained a cameo by blues harp legend and onetime Muddy Waters sideman, Big Walter Horton. It was the sound of Horton's harmonica at a 1969 University of Chicago performance that captured a teenage Pierre's attention, ultimately changing the direction of his life.
According to Pierre, “Everything I do has a story” and the stories of Cab Driving Man are found in its 16 songs, 11 of which were composed by Pierre. Guitarist Dotson added three more with two covers suggested by singer Visor including the Oliver Sain song “Don't Mess Up A Good Thing” which Gregg Allman also covered many years ago for his Laid Back solo debut. Pierre's subject matters run the gamut of the human experience from the purpose of life to the glory of love. He also touches on contemporary issues such as abuse from a woman's perspective and unresolved family issues. Pierre's professional training as a licensed clinical psychologist gives him a unique viewpoint as a songwriter not often duplicated. Song titles such as “Music Is My Life”, “Flowers on My Tombstone”, “Life Is Too Short”, and “Cupid Bound” reflect the diversity of this material.
Like many of the classic Chicago blues outfits they have emulated over the decades, Mississippi Heat has both carried the torch and added to the historic Windy City blues tradition. In a tough urban environment characterized by unrestrained gun violence from Al Capone and Prohibition to record murder rates on the streets of the South Side in 2016, the city of Chicago owes a considerable debt to its blues community for helping to change the conversation. From the early days of Mississippi Heat with Robert Covington, Billy Flynn and Bob Stroger to the current lineup, Pierre Lacocque's band has represented the Chicago blues tradition overseas as well as locally.
The blues still lives in Chicago today but it's a whole new generation of bands that carry on in 2016. Mississippi Heat is an important part of what is going on in Chicago now with the ability to expand or contract their lineup depending on what is required. “It's a vocation”, says Pierre but one that also requires “chemistry, which is a result of all the years together.” As for the new album, Cab Driving Man, Mississippi Heat is very excited. To Pierre, “An album is a passport, it gives you opportunity to keep growing and traveling”. As long as that continues, Mississippi Heat will be a vital part of Chicago's dynamic blues scene for a very long time indeed.

- Greg Easterling, program host WDRV-FM, Chicago

Other Delmark albums of interest:
Mississippi Heat, Warning Shot (839); Delta Bound (823); Let’s Live It Up (807)
Hattiesburg Blues (795)
One Eye Open - Live At Rosa’s Lounge (783 CD, 1783 DVD)
Corey Dennison Band (844)
Omar Coleman, Live (846) Born And Raised (840)
Mike Wheeler Band, Turn Up!! (845) Self Made Man (824)
Toronzo Cannon, John The Conquer Root (831) Leaving Mood (817)
Linsey Alexander, Come Back Baby (838) Been There Done That (822)

This CD is dedicated to the women who encourage me to live the life I love to live: Vickie, Elisabeth, Natalie, Jeannie, and my cousins and nieces. Thanks to Maestro keyboardist Chris Cameron, Natalie Lacocque, and the rest of the band for their creative suggestions. Thanks to my parents, our manager Michel and booking agents Jay Reil, Rene Moisan and Andy Loesche. Thanks also to Frank Rosjak who brought our Warning Shot CD to the #1 radio spot (worldwide) for 5 months in a row. Thanks also to Eric Hofmeister, Gary “Sonny Jr” Onofrio, Greg Jones, Dave Specter and Johnny Ace; to photographers Alfonso Zirpoli and Daniel Brunner for the stunning pictures; to Elisabeth Brunner for editing our photos. Also, Jeffrey Bishku-Aykul for his editorial work on our interviews and WIKIPEDIA page. Finally, my hat off to Steve Wagner for his superb engineering work.
- PIERRE

CP 2016 Delmark Records
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