For a blues music aficionado like Dov Hammer, flying from his home in Tel Aviv to record in Chicago was akin to making a pilgrimage to the source.
Harmonica master Hammer has been, almost singlehandedly, bringing the singular American art form to Israeli music fans for nearly three decades, fronting numerous bands and recording eight albums.
But for his ninth effort, the newly released Exile – The Chicago Blues Sessions, the American-born Hammer realized one of his musical dreams by returning to the city of his heroes, such as Little Walter, Muddy Waters, and James Cotton, for an authentic Chicago blues album.
“The Chicago blues has always been at the heart of my music, the driving force behind my desire to be a musician,” the 57-year-old Hammer said.
“At the age of 12, I saw John Lee Hooker playing, in the Maxwell Street Market, in the movie The Blues Brothers and it was the coolest thing I had ever seen – I knew I wanted to play that music. Soon after I discovered Junior Wells and so many others, and I was hooked for life.”
Making aliyah with his family from the Chicago area when he was seven, Hammer spent part of his high school and some post-army years back in the US, before returning to Israel and launching his mission to bring the blues to the Israeli masses.
The idea to record with bona fide Chicago bluesmen emerged when Hammer was recording a more rock-oriented album with his longtime musical partner, Assaf Rozof, a few years ago.
“I had this blues song, ‘Genuine,’ that didn’t really fit with the feel of the rest of the songs. But I really liked it, it sounded like a Willie Dixon Chicago kind of song. So I thought, ‘Why don’t I try to record it in Chicago?’ I had already planned a visit there in the summer of 2023 to attend a harmonica event and to visit friends,” he explained.
Making the album
Hammer contacted someone he had played with in the past – guitarist Dave Specter, who was well-established in the Chicago blues scene – and asked him if he would produce a session while Hammer was there – find a studio, hire musicians.
“I wanted to make an album that had that classic Chicago sound, with musicians that know the music so well, you don’t have to explain anything to them,” Hammer said, going on to elaborate on what sets Chicago blues apart.
“Chicago blues is what happened when the musicians from Mississippi moved from the country to the city in the 1940s and ’50s. They were used to playing acoustic music, and in the city, they latched on to electric guitars, added drums, and amplified harmonica. It was the beginning of modern blues and rock & roll,” he said.
“And besides the piano, which was emphasized on most Chicago blues, the harmonica, my instrument, was essential to the sound. It’s one of the reasons I got into it so deeply, trying to emulate the sound of those originators.”
Spector called in some studio aces, who had played with Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, and many blues greats, including Marty Bender on drums, Jon Kattke on piano, and bassist Rodrigo Mantovani.
In addition to his original, Hammer chose a second song to record that he knew everyone would know – Little Walter’s “Last Night” – and the band recorded both tracks in smooth fashion. Listening to the playback in the control room, Hammer and the band were elated.
“They all looked at me and said, ‘Well, we have some more time, let’s do another song,’” Hammer said. “It took me by surprise. I hadn’t thought of a third song, and I thought they’d all be eager to leave, but they were having such a good time, they wanted to stay.”
Hammer pulled a song out of his hat, an old James Cotton song called “Take a Message,” and the band laid it down. Hammer returned to Israel with the three songs, and before he had time to do anything with them, October 7 changed everything.
ONLY LAST September did Hammer return to Chicago and reunite with basically the same group of musicians to record the rest of the songs that appear on Exile.
Despite the musicians, besides Specter, not having known Hammer beforehand, they were respectful and eager to work with him, he said.
“I think they got a sense that I knew what I was doing, and from the beginning it was very comfortable to play with them,” Hammer said. “And it was a little daunting to have this guy who played drums with Buddy Guy and Albert Collins ask me, ‘Is what I’m playing ok?’‘Well, yeah, whatever you play is fine with me!’”
While the musicians knew that Hammer was Israeli, they didn’t seem to be over-interested in discussing the geo-politics of the war in Gaza, preferring to let the music do the talking.
“They asked me about what was going on a little, but like most Americans, they don’t follow too closely what’s going on and weren’t deeply involved in it,” he said.
One musician with some Israel experience was guest vocalist Deirdre Hart, who joined Hammer on “Just Your Fool.” In 2000, she performed in Israel, backed by Hammer and his band.
“When we had a day off, I offered to take her and her young son to Jerusalem to see the Christian holy sites,” said Hammer.
“When I suggested that we bring her in for the session, I was told she was semi-retired and hadn’t been singing at all. But when I called her, to everyone’s surprise, she agreed, saying, ‘I’m only going to do this for you – because you took me to Jerusalem.’”
Although a traditional record release party and tour aren’t happening because the Chicago players are coming to Israel, Hammer is including some of the tunes in all of his shows, with his band, the All Stars.
Next up is his April 25 show at Shabloul in Tel Aviv, a regular haunt for him.
“I knew I was a fish out of water when I started playing the blues in Israel, but I didn’t care if anybody else liked it or not, it’s what I wanted to do,” said Hammer.
“I can’t say I made blues music mainstream in Israel, but it’s 30 years later, and I’m still playing to receptive audiences.”
It seems that, unlike his song, Hammer is no longer in exile.
