“God, I can’t get enough of these guys!” Gerry Chodkowski sighs and gazes at a video monitor, where a ghostly trio of Chicago blues legends holds forth: Big Walter Horton, perched atop a small amplifier, blows swooping harmonica bends over Floyd Jones’s tub-thumping bass lines. Behind them drummer Playboy Venson, cigar jutting rakishly from his lips, crashes away on his battered old trap. The black-and-white images are grainy and spectral, the audio murky. But for Chodkowski, who shot these and many other tapes of local blues artists in the late 70s and early 80s, being the curator of this rare documentary slice of Chicago blues history feels something like being charged with preserving a piece of the true cross.
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In the late 60s and early 70s Chodkowski began to explore Chicago’s burgeoning folk scene. He saw legendary performers like Josh White, made annual pilgrimages to the U. of C. Folk Festival, and haunted the cafes and coffeehouses of Old Town. He traveled to the south side, where blues clubs like Theresa’s–and later the Checkerboard–hosted Monday night jams.
Chodkowski toyed for a few years with the idea of filming there, but film was expensive. “I was working as a Head Start teacher in Hyde Park, and I thought it would be good to use videotape equipment. In 1977, 1978, it was just coming out. I’d put myself through school being a merchant seaman, so I quit teaching, jumped on a boat, and made enough money to get a portable system. It was a reel-to-reel Panasonic deck, half-inch tape. It seemed to me this was the beginning of a whole new age.”
On Friday, March 9, Chodkowski and O’Brien will present “A Video Tribute to Erwin Helfer” at the California Clipper, 1002 N. California. On tap are tapes of Helfer accompanying the venerable vocalist Estelle “Mama” Yancey, backed by legendary drummer S.P. Leary at the U. of C. Folk Festival. He’ll also show footage shot at the Piano Man, featuring Helfer along with singers Jeanne Carroll and Queen Sylvia Embry. Helfer’s mentor Little Brother Montgomery puts in a nonmusical cameo. The free screening starts at 7:30 and will be followed at 10 by a performance by Helfer and pianist Barrelhouse Chuck, who appear at the bar every Friday. A tribute to Horton, which will include the Jimmy Rogers segment as well as the footage from B.L.U.E.S., is planned for March 30. Call the Clipper at 773-384-2547 for more information on both events.
