KEN SAYDAK has enjoyed a nearly forty year career performing on festival and club stages worldwide. He has recorded his original blues-based music for Chicago’s prestigious Delmark label, releasing two solo projects, Foolish Man and Love Without Trust.
The Chicago Sun-Times called his last release on Evidence, It’s My Soul, his “best stand-alone project yet.”
Having come of age as a performer while many of the seminal blues legends were still alive and playing, he represents a vibrant link between the glory days of Chicago blues and the contemporary blues scene. He absorbed lessons from the greats during his early days in Chicago but was never content to be simply an imitator, instilling his music with not only traditional styles but also his broad musical understanding. His wit and wry observations permeate his lyrics, and his performances both as a band leader and a soloist draw from the deep well of American music.
He is a unique voice in the idiom and the breadth of his musicianship as both a player and vocalist have impressed audiences around the globe. Ken’s career as a performer has taken him to concert and festival stages on four continents, including tours and appearances in Europe and Japan. The list of artists who have enlisted his talents include Johnny Winter, Otis Rush, Willie Kent, Lonnie Brooks, John Primer, Mighty Joe Young, Billy Boy Arnold, Sam Lay, Dave Specter, James Wheeler, Tad Robinson, Lurrie Bell, Johnny B. Moore, and Karen Carroll.
About It's My Soul, his 2005 Evidence Records release:
"Ken Saydak has built an impressive body of work with his three solo albums and his studio work…It's My Soul is his best stand-alone project yet"…
Chicago Sun-Times
"Though veteran session man and Big Shoulders bandleader Ken Saydak has left Chicago, his commitment to America's greatest music remains unabated. On It's My Soul, the singer-songwriter-keyboardist bolsters the canons of blues and roots music with a dozen compelling new songs, delivered with gruffly good-natured vocals and towering piano and organ performances…. It's My Soul is an excellent listen."
Blues Revue, June/July 2006
"…it reaches back through labels and categories to clutch the still-pumping heart of the simple and glorious music that became rock 'n' roll – the seminal, simmering soul stew bursting with different but related flavors: the twangs of country music, the tangs of New Orleans R&B, the heart pangs of gospel, and the ka-bang! of the blues… All About Jazz
About his previous work:
"Vocalist/keyboardist and Windy City blues vet Ken Saydak is a gripping frontman…"
Billboard Magazine
"With a rock-solid left hand pumping out the rhythms and a right hand that lightly caresses the keys one moment and pounds them into boogie-woogie submission the next, he demonstrates why the piano has retained a prominent spot in the blues world despite the glut of guitar slingers."
Blues Revue Magazine
"Our man is a true blues pianist all around, at the same time soft and deep, a worthy heir to Otis Spann, a champion of an instrument which has lost its prestige.
In addition, he's a sensitive composer, occasionally autobiographical, absolutely gifted for socio-economic or philosophical vignettes about daily life and human relationships."
Soul Bag Magazine Paris
"Frontman Ken Saydak has a huge, gruff vocal delivery and a flair for writing involved, strong compositions that – while blues-drenched – are often lyrically uplifting and musically complex. Saydak looks far beyond booze, cheating, partying and heartbreak for inspiration."
Twin Cities Reader
"Ken Saydak is an artist and a poet."
Al Lewis – KBAI-FM New York City
Information provided from kensaydak.com
