The Low-Down Piano is a celebration of pre-war piano blues, barrelhouse blues, and early boogie-woogie – more or less interchangeable terms. In the 20s and 30s blues piano was a widespread and diverse art form. In St. Louis, pianists like Henry Brown, Aaron ‘Pinetop’ Sparks, and Peetie Wheatstraw stomped ‘em on down to the bricks. In East Texas, pianists like Robert Shaw, Black Boy Shine, and Pinetop Burks hopped the Santa Fe Train to get from one secluded lumber camp to another. In Chicago, Jimmy Yancey and Albert Ammons played the rent parties, while ‘Cripple’ Clarence Lofton entertained at his own club, ‘The Big Apple.” In a tantalizingly few recordings, pianists like Romeo Nelson, Jabo Williams, and Montana Taylor put their own unique boogie styles on wax. Meanwhile, Little Brother Montgomery, before settling in Chicago, played the mill towns and the levee camps of Mississippi and Louisiana, soaking up the sounds of his fellow Southern itinerant musicians and preserving them in stories and recordings throughout his long career. This collection presents my personal interpretations of some of my favorite tunes of this era. 1. Deep Morgan Blues *Henry Brown 2. The ‘Ma’ Grinder *Robert Shaw 3. Head Rag Hop *Romeo Nelson 4. The Vicksburg Blues (aka The 44s) *Little Brother Montgomery 5. State Street Special *Jimmy Yancey 6. The Cows * The ‘Santa Fe’ Group 7. Louisiana Bound (…And Gone) *The Sparks Brothers 8. Cooney Vaughn’s Tremblin’ Blues *Little Brother Montgomery 9. Pratt City Blues *Jabo Williams 10. Indiana Avenue Stomp *’Montana’ Taylor 11. Farish Street Jive *Little Brother Montgomery 12. Peetie Wheatstraw’s Blues 13. Cuttin’ (and Pastin’) the Boogie *Albert Ammons, ‘Cripple’ Clarence Lofton, Jabo Williams 14. Little Brother’s Blues 15. Mr. Freddie’s Blues * as played by Little Brother Montgomery 16. ‘Cripple’ Cow Cow Blues *Cow-Cow Davenport, “Cripple’ Clarence Lofton Recorded on a 1905 Decker & Sons Upright Piano with all original parts and strings. Courtesy of Matt Sellers and The St. Louis Vintage Piano Company. Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Paul Niehaus IV . Blue Lotus Studios. Album Artwork and Design by Jason Leinwand