Professor Longhair: Live In Chicago

Previously unreleased live album from the Bach of rock.

Professor Longhair: Live In Chicago album artwork.

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Recorded four years before the Prof’s untimely death, this live set sees one of New Orleans’ greatest piano players having a grand old time at the Chicago Folk Festival in 1976.

As Longhair romps through a set of his own hits and standards, there’s no mistaking his distinctive keyboard skills or whistling on such classics as Big Chief and Mardi Gras In New Orleans (although his version of Everyday I Have The Blues is on the idiosyncratic side).

He might have been in the autumn of his career, but the good times were still rolling. Backed by a top-notch band, including Billy Gregory on guitar, Longhair builds up a head of steam on Muddy Waters’ Got My Mojo Working, which brings the house down in spectacular fashion. This is one of those moments when you really wish you could have been there.