Eddie Shaw

Chicago has long been defined by guitar and harmonica players when it comes to blues, leaving very few saxophonists able to front their own bands there. Eddie Shaw became one of those exceptions once his longtime employer Howlin' Wolf passed away in 1976. Over more than six decades in music the robust tenor saxophonist crossed paths with a striking roster of major figures. Already at fourteen he was sitting in with Ike Turner's group near Greenville, Mississippi. While guesting at a performance in Itta Bena, Muddy Waters offered him a permanent slot in his Chicago ensemble, an opportunity Shaw accepted. He later moved over to Waters' main competitor, the intense Howlin' Wolf, remaining until Wolf's final days and eventually serving as the band's featured leader. Along the way Shaw also shared stages on the West Side with Freddie King, Otis Rush, and Magic Sam. A 1966 date with Sam yielded Shaw's debut single, the gritty instrumental "Blues for the West Side," later included on Delmark's Sweet Home Chicago collection. He also contributed prominently to Sam's 1968 Delmark album Black Magic.

Shaw's own recordings as a leader gained traction in the late 1970s, beginning with a notable track on Alligator's Living Chicago Blues, Vol. 1 anthology in 1978 and continuing with releases on Simmons and Rooster Blues that included the album In the Land of the Crossroads. From the 1990s onward he worked with the Austrian Wolf label, issuing Home Alone (1995), The Blues Is Nothing But Good News! (1996), Too Many Highways (1999), and Give Me Time (2005). His guitarist son Eddie Shaw Jr., known as Vaan Shaw, joined the band and also recorded for Wolf, while his other son, Stan Shaw, built a career as a film and television actor. Stringtown Records brought out Still Riding High by Eddie Shaw & the 757 Allstars in 2012. Shaw received Blues Music Awards in both 2013 and 2014, and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel designated May 3 as Eddie Shaw Day. He died in Chicago in January 2018 at the age of eighty.