Eddie Shaw and the Wolfgang
Eddie Shaw is one of the reigning “kings” of Chicago Blues. Eddie Shaw has played with the likes of such blues greats such as Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Jimmie Reed, Magic Sam, Lil Milton, Ike Turner, Freddie King, Willie Dixon, and Hound Dog Taylor and the likes but is widely known for the time he spent with Chester Burnett... known the world over as Howlin’ Wolf. After Howlin Wolf’s death in 1976, Eddie continued in the tradition set before him and formed his own band, Eddie Shaw and the Wolfgang.
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Like many before him, his migration from Greenville, MS to Chicago serves as a testament to his musical roots and his ability as a singer, songwriter, producer, instrumentalist and bandleader. Having performed with some of the greatest blues musicians that have ever lived, he is part of a generation of musicians that have helped to define and shape the “Chicago sound.” His hard honking blues busting saxophone work can be found on some of the most prolific blues recordings to date. At the tender age of 77 he’s still a force to be reckoned with. Eddie netted the coveted 2013 Blues Music Award for best instrumentalist/Horn for an amazing 4th time and the 2013 Living Blues Award for the same.
Shaw more or less divided the tenor saxophone duties with A.C. Reed and in 1972 he joined Howlin' Wolf, leading his band, the Wolf Gang, and writing half the songs on The Back Door Wolf (1973). After the singer's death in 1976 he took over the band and its residency at the 1815 Club, renamed Eddie's Place. Shaw led the gang on Living Chicago Blues Vol. 1 and Have Blues Will Travel (1980), and recorded albums for Isabel Records, Rooster Blues, and Wolf Records. By the late 1970s, Shaw's own recording career started, with an appearance on Alligator Records' Living Chicago Blues anthologies (1978), his own LPs for Evidence and Rooster Blues, and more recent discs for Rooster Blues (In the Land of the Crossroads) and Wolf (Home Alone). Shaw's many contributions to the blues include arranging tracks for The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (which featured Eric Clapton, Bill Wyman, Ringo Starr and others), played on the Black Magic album with Magic Sam and put on his arranging hat for the Grammy nominated “Ink & Funk” by Muddy Waters.
In 2012, Eddie released Eddie Shaw and the 757 All-stars “Still Riding High”, an album that recapped his illustrious career as blues man extraordinaire and nominated for “Best Traditional Blues Album” for the 2013 Blues Blast Awards. Eddie has been nominated again for best instrumentalist/horn at the 2014 Blues Music Awards.
