Biography

A top-tier blues and jazz guitarist, bandleader, composer, and a member of Chicago's Blues Hall of Fame, Dave Specter brings intelligence and crisp playing to the table in a style deeply informed by the styles of T-Bone Walker, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, and Kenny Burrell in an approach that weds urban blues, gritty soul, and funky, jazzy R&B. A road warrior, Specter often plays 200 nights a year; he's won devoted followings in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Once a sideman with Son Seals and Hubert Sumlin, Specter has led his own bands since 1989. He began his career as a leader with 1991's Bluebird Blues for Delmark. In 1998 he released the widely celebrated Blues Spoken Here, co-billed with vocalist Lenny Lynn. 2000's Speculatin' was an all-instrumental set highlighting originals and covers by Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Earland, and the Meters. A decade later, Specter released the instrumental Spectified for Fret12 Records, featuring a full brass section. 2014's internationally acclaimed Message in Blue included alternating lead vocalists Brother John Kattke and Otis Clay. 2019's Blues from the Inside Out was the first to feature the guitarist's lead vocals (on three tracks). That year he also started a podcast of the same title featuring conversations with blues musicians. In 2021, Specter issued Six String Soul, a double-disc retrospective of his three-decade tenure with Delmark. Born on Chicago's northwest side in 1963, Specter didn't pick up the guitar until he was 18 years old. Displaying a natural affinity for the instrument, he developed his R&B-drenched style by listening to and emulating recordings by his musical heroes. His prodigious chops and easygoing, affable manner won him work as a support player for slide blues king John Littlejohn, Seals, and the Legendary Blues Band before starting his own group, the Bluebirds, in 1989. Signing with Delmark Records, he released a debut album, Bluebird Blues, on the imprint in 1991, featuring vocals by Barkin' Bill Smith (Specter was not a vocalist), following it with Blueplicity (this time with vocals from harmonica player Tad Robinson) in 1994 and Live in Europe (again featuring vocalist Robinson) in 1995. Lynwood Slim handled vocals for 1996's Left Turn on Blue (which featured legendary jazz Hammond B-3 organist Brother Jack McDuff), with Lenny Lynn handling the vocal duties on 1998's Blues Spoken Here. That same year, Specter and the Bluebirds served as Lurrie Bell's band for the latter's Kiss of Sweet Blues. Throughout the decade, Dave Specter & the Bluebirds toured North America and the world. They played festival stages across the Netherlands, in Ireland, in Argentina, in Japan, the U.S., and Canada. 2000's Speculatin' saw Specter abandon vocals. Consisting of 13 instrumental tracks, the set offered seven originals and stellar covers of Dizzy Gillespie's "Birks Works," the Meters' "Look a Py-Py," and Charles Earland's "The Mighty Burner," among others. Vocalist or not, Specter's clean, imaginative guitar playing won respect across the blues community even as he moved further into jazz. In 2002, he guested on blues singer/ songwriter Steve Freund's I'll Be Your Mule. It resulted in a long tour together and 2004's fully collaborative Is What Is, that balanced originals with covers by Otis Rush, George Harrison, Peter Green, Curtis Mayfield, and Otis Spann. The album and DVD Live in Chicago (featuring guests Jimmy Johnson, Tad Robinson, and Sharon Lewis) appeared in 2008. Specter returned to instrumental recording for 2010's Spectified on the indie Fret21 label. Adding a horn section and two organists to his ensemble, he stretched his own boundaries to include soul-gospel and knotty jazz-funk to his stylistic palette. The set also included fine covers of Freddie King's "Wash Out" and Ma Rainey's "See See Rider." The album won wide critical acclaim in Europe and Asia. He took the album and a larger band on the road for most of the next three years. He returned to recording with 2014's Message in Blue for Delmark. It featured vocalists Otis Clay, Brother John Kattke, and Bob Corritore, in a mix of guest vocal tracks with instrumentals in prime swinging guitar style. After touring for several years, Specter took a well-deserved break though he still played club gigs in Chicago. He returned to recording with 2019's Blues from the Inside Out. A mix of instrumentals and vocal cuts, three tracks featured -- for the first time -- the guitarist singing lead. Special guest and Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen also guested on a pair of tracks. Specter also began a podcast commensurate with the album title. He hosted conversations with first-tier blues singers and instrumentalists including Albert Lee, Shemekia Copeland, Billy Boy Arnold, Jimmie Vaughan, and many others. Sidelined from live playing by the COVID-19 pandemic, Specter hosted his podcast on the internet, and worked with Delmark to assemble a retrospective of his career with the label. In 2020, Specter watched the senseless murder of George Floyd in the street by a policeman on national television. A few days later, inspired by Civil Rights activist and Congressman John Lewis' words: "If it hadn’t been for music, the Civil Rights movement would've been like a bird without wings," he wrote "The Ballad of George Floyd." He recorded it as a single and video with blues harp legend Billy Branch. The song was included in 2021's Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom exhibit at the Woody Guthrie Center, co-sponsored by the Grammy Museum. In October, after reassembling his band to tour, Specter released the double-length retrospective Six String Soul: 30 years of Delmark Records. It included "The Ballad of George Floyd" in its track list. ~ Steve Leggett, Thom Jurek, Rovi