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Blues Revue Magazine (October/November 2006)
"... his approach to this music makes him arguably the most exciting young blues player on the scene today ... It's a combination of talents that allows the best bands to transcend their genres, and that's they key to Nick Moss & the Flip Tops' appeal. They play with fire and fury but also with control, constructing a brilliant set that never gets boring."
Hittin' The Note (October 2006)
""They're a multi-talented quartet and they blaze through these 11 workouts with dogged intensity ... After four acclaimed studio albums, Live at Chan's is the triumphant clamor of the Flip Tops landing on their first pinnacle."
-- Tom Clarke
Big City Blues (August/September 2006)
This one will be the talk of Chi-Town once heard enough. Packed with the raw power of Chicago Blues, this CD kicks down all the doors. To quote Muddy Waters "This band is as tight as a frogs ass, and that's waterproof!" Featuring Gerry Hundt on bass and at times harmonica, Piano Willie Oshawny laying out a great set on the keys, and Victor Spann filling in the remaining rhythm on drums. Recorded at Chan's in Woonsocket Rhode Island on a remote recording unit, its sound quality is above and beyond pure clarity. The secret ingredient is the spontaneous improvisation of the project, with the band members taking turns on different instruments throughout the show.
...Seven out of the entire eleven tracks here push the seven minute mark and longer, keeping your feet moving, and giving you your money's worth. MOst people complain that studio recordings never truly exhibit the potential excitement of a live show. I say pick up this CD and you will have your satisfaction quenched. Hear both the live excitement and talent shine on this fine piece of work. A must for any lover of true Chicago Blues
-- Dirk Wisssbaum
Soundstage.com (August 2006)
Chicago’s Nick Moss and the Flip Tops made a very likable studio disc last year, Sadie Mae, and they’ve just released Live at Chan’s, a fiery document of the band in performance. Moss and his band are purists -- you won’t hear any rock influences in their blues -- but their affection for the music and their impressive chops make for an exciting disc. Moss burns it up on guitar, and allows himself to stretch out more live than he does in the studio, but he shares the spotlight with his excellent pianist, Willie Oshawny, and his bassist and harpist, Gerry Hundt (when Hundt plays harp, Oshawny picks up the bass chores). As good as Moss is, he gives everyone in the band the space to play with the same skill and enthusiasm he does himself.
Moss doesn’t break any new songwriting ground on Live at Chan’s, but his own tunes stand up well beside the classics he covers, such as Jimmy Witherspoon’s "Your Red Wagon" and Magic Slim’s "It’s Good in Your Neighborhood." I’d like to hear Moss explore some new territory, but he has the classic Chicago blues sound nailed down so well that I’d be happy to hear him make records like this one for the rest of his career. Live at Chan’s is 76 minutes of jumping, burning blues.
-- Joseph Taylor
Bad Dog Blues (July 2006) Visit the website
In just a few short years Nick Moss & The Flip Tops have garnered a reputation as first class traditional Chicago blues band and a sizzling live act. The band's four prior records were filled with passionate, vintage Chicago blues and they deliver more of the same on the high energy Live At Chan's, a record that's sure to enhance their reputation as a knockout live outfit.
Good old 12-bar Chicago blues never really goes out of style although the formula can grow trite in the wrong hands. You can still hear the music in Chicago of course although many African-Americans view the music as old fashioned, favoring the slicker sounds of soul-blues. Moss plays the music exceptionally well and has a deep sense of tradition as he notes: "I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel, or trying to bring things into the new millennia. I'm just playing what was handed down to me and do it justice. I have a lot of respect for the guys who taught it to me—I played with Jimmy Dawkins, I played with Willie Smith, I played with Jimmy Rogers—and in my heart I love [this music] and I don’t feel it has to be changed much." That pretty much sums up what you'll hear on Live At Chan's, a sweaty high energy set of vintage blues.
Nick Moss & The Flip Tops play the kind of raw, vibrant blues that harks back to the golden era of Chicago blues of the 50's and 60's when Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells and Magic Sam still haunted the clubs. For his part Moss is a fine blues singer, while his range is a bit limited it's quite effective, and he's a terrific guitar player who's plays with taste, spirit, and swing. The band locks in behind him laying down a deep groove with some rock solid old school ensemble playing. This is a mostly uptempo affair as Moss delivers a a number from 2005's Sadie Mae including the romping "Check My Pulse" featuring stomping piano from Willie Oshawny, "I Never Forget" and the steamy "One-Eyed Jack" featuring some blistering slide which brings to mind Robert Nighthawk's live Maxwell Street style. Moss puts down some fine covers including a moody update of Freddie King's classic "I Love That Woman", he revives "Your Red Wagon" a song he cites as a song Jimmy Witherspoon did (also a song associated with Count Basie) and puts down some boogie-woogie with Big Joe Turner's rollicking "Wine-O-Baby Boogie" with Oshawny doing his best Pete Johnson impersonation. As mentioned this a predominantly uptempo set although a couple of slower or mid-tempo numbers would have added a bit more variety.
Nick Moss & The Flip Tops have been generating lots of buzz in recent years and Live At Chan's is a good way to find out what all the noise has been about. Fans of good time, well played Chicago blues will find Nick Moss right up their alley.
–– Jeff Harris
Blues & Rhythm (UK) (Issue 212 - out soon!)
A nice long small-club set from Chicago’s own Nick Moss, recorded last July at Chan’s long-lived Eggroll & Jazz establishment in the far reaches of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Accompanied by Flip Tops multi-instrumentalist regulars Gerry Hundt and Willie Oshawny and kicking drummer Victor Spann, Moss delivers a tasty mix of covers and originals (most of the latter from last year’s acclaimed Sadie Mae album) with plenty of his blistering, staccato-spiced guitar playing and soulfully straining vocals. Nearby Boston buddy Monster Mike Welch sits in on second guitar on a few cuts – a rocking redo of Jimmy Witherspoon’s habit blues ‘Your Red Wagon’ and the harmonica-cured rouser and Moss-composed ‘Just Like That’ particularly benefit from his input.
Top-notch band originals open and close affairs effectively. The back alley barnburner ‘Eggroll Stroll’ spotlights the lithe, sinuous piano work of Oshawny and ‘was made up on the spot’ as Moss avers in his liners while the bruising, biting ‘Move Over, Morris’ was ‘inspired by Magic Slim’.
Early influence Slim (Moss also spent time with both Jimmy Rogers and Jimmy Dawkins at the outset of his career) is also the source for his tough-as-nails rendition of Buster Benton’s wily ‘It’s Good In Your Neighborhood’ and he really gets a chance to strut his stuff on a ten-minute overhaul of Freddie King’s Federal-era shouter ‘I Love The Woman’ – that opens with a visceral guitar solo and features some of Oshawny’s most trenchant piano playing alongside Moss’s successive, King-styled fretboard forays. Moss also nods to Earl Hooker, with Oshawny adding spirited organ asides, on an intoxicating cover of a dynamic redo of ‘The End’ and boogies with the best of them on Big Joe Turner’s atmospheric ‘Wine-O Baby Boogie,’ surely a dance floor favourite
Not to overlook the Sadie Mae material. ‘Check My Pulse’ sounds like a lost Muddy Waters Chess 78 (with Otis Spann on the 88s) while both ‘I Never Forget’ and ‘One-Eyed Jack’, with Hundt channeling Little Walter on harmonica, also marvelously evoke and vividly celebrate the ambience of a late-night set at Pepper’s or Theresa’s Lounge. The sound, throughout, is excellent with the audience nicely miked low in the mix. Fans have been after Windy City blues torchbearer Moss the past few years about issuing a live CD. Together with his top-shelf Flip Tops combo, he rewards their patience resoundingly with this potent outing.
–– Gary von Tersch
Blindman's Blues Forum (July 2006) Check out the forum!
Recommended. Those who think traditional Chicago-style blues has all but died or become little more than a museum display obviously haven't heard of Nick Moss & The Flip Tops and it's a sure bet they haven't heard him and his gang lay down a groove. As much as Moss has a pedigree as large as his massive frame (having worked with far too many artists to count), he's not about copying those he learned from or came up with. What he is about is taking his influences and expanding on them and he does that on his new 'live' disc with a band as tough as his own shattering guitar work. Gerry Hundt handles the low end on bass and delivers gritty harmonica to a pair and Willie Oshawny handles keyboard chores (another veteran with a storied career) and takes over on bass where Hundt plays harp while Victor Spann drives things steadily along from behind the drumkit. Moss possesses a voice as powerful as his guitar and shines on a few well-chosen covers (Your Red Wagon, It's Good In Your Neighborhood, Wine-O Baby Boogie, and a stunning I Love The Woman) but where he truly stands out is on his well-crafted originals like One Eyed Jack, playing slide that would have made Muddy Waters proud, The End with its heartfelt nod to Earl Hooker, and I Never Forget with its absolutely devastating guitar break. Nick Moss is no newcomer (his previous four discs are all available from Blue Bella) and his numerous nominations and awards are deserving of an artist with so much to offer as a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. Monster Mike Welch offers some top-notch guitar to Your Red Wagon plus Just Like That and Willie Oshawny gets a tip of the hat on Wine-O Baby Boogie. If Nick Moss & The Flip Tops have yet to make it to your locale or grace your CD shelves Live At Chan's is almost the perfect cure - just make sure to catch this smoking band as soon as possible. Superbly done!
–– Craig Ruskey
The Grand Rapids Press (June 28 2006)
"Are you ready for some Chicago blues?" That's how the emcee introduces Moss and the boys on this live disc recorded in Rhode Island in 2005. The talented band delivers track after gut-bucket-drenched track of just that, from the opening "Eggroll Stroll" to the closing strains of "Move Over, Morris." Stretching out even more than on his studio albums, the guitarist delivers stunningly classic (think Dawkins, Rogers, etc.) blues riffs along with an almost perfect blues voice that sounds nothing like he looks. And with Willie Oshawny pounding out some tantalizing piano accents and solos throughout, it makes you feel like you're there and ready to scream for more.
–– John Sinkevics
Midwest Record Recap - Chicago, IL (June 28 2006)
Last year, Moss came out with a set of white boy blues that was so blistering that you were scratching your head wondering why you never really heard of him and how he did this from deep in the suburbs. This new one captures him live and shows there's been a bunch of fans in the know for some time that know which end is up when it comes to white boy blues. With mastery and authenticity in his licks, Moss is at the fore front of the new generation that is going to keep the blues organic and growing. Hot, right and tight, this is well worth checking out if you've been clucking your tongue about what's going to happen to the future of the blues. A stone killer.
Blues Blowtorch.com (June 15 2006)
Ever since I discovered Chicago bluesman Nick Moss on his Blues Award-nominated Sadie Mae, I’ve always looked forward to a live CD. This year, Blues Foundation members nominated Sadie Mae in both the
“Album of the Year” and “Traditional Album of the Year” categories. Live at Chan’s captures Nick Moss and
the Flip Tops and some special guests live last summer, and the eight minutes of “Eggroll Stroll” leads
the 76-minute set. Many of the songs on Live at Chan’s feature long blues jams, just like Nick’s live shows.
Monster Mike Welch sits in on “Just Like That,” it’s a treat to hear Mike and Nick balance with Gerry
Hundt’s powerful harmonica work. Live at Chan’s offers 76 minutes of high-energy blues that’s faithful to
the postwar Chicago sound, and I hope he’ll take home the hardware for this CD in Memphis next May.
–– Eric Steiner
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