Roomful of Blues to perform live in Westerly  

Posted 10/30/24

Roomful of Blues, the world-renowned, horn-powered, houserocking blues band, will perform live at The Knickerbocker Music Center in Westerly on Saturday, Nov. 30. The …

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Roomful of Blues to perform live in Westerly  

Posted

Roomful of Blues, the world-renowned, horn-powered, houserocking blues band, will perform live at The Knickerbocker Music Center in Westerly on Saturday, Nov. 30. The band’s latest Alligator Records release is “In A Roomful Of Blues.” The Rhode Island-based group has been delighting audiences for over 50 years. Blues Music Magazine calls them “the best little big band in the blues.” The group has earned five GRAMMY Award nominations and a slew of other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards. Twice, the prestigious DownBeat International Critics Poll selected them as Best Blues Band.

“In A Roomful Of Blues,” the band’s sixth release on Alligator Records (and 19th overall), was produced by guitarist and bandleader Chris Vachon and features 13 wide-ranging songs, including ten band-composed originals — more than on any previous Roomful album. Eight songs were written or co-written by Vachon (including one authored with vocalist Phil Pemberton) plus one each by sax player Alek Razdan and keyboardist Rusty Scott. From the rocking “We’d Have A Love Sublime” to the funkified “You Move Me” to the closing-time lament “She Quit Me Again” to the up-to-the-minute “Phone Zombies,” the album is filled with soaring blues, zydeco twists, late-night ballads, Latin-tinged funk and a touch of vintage, fifth-gear rock ‘n’ roll.

While Roomful of Blues has always been one of the tightest, most joyful blues ensembles in the world, they have never sounded fresher or stronger than with the current line-up. Along with Vachon and Lataille, the band includes new featured vocalist DD Bastos, baritone and tenor saxophonist Alek Razdan, trumpeter Carl “Geerz” Gerhard, bassist John Turner, drummer Mike Coffey and new keyboardist Jeff Ceasrine.

Roomful of Blues began in 1967 when a group of southern Rhode Island teenagers with a shared passion for the blues formed a straight-ahead Chicago-style electric blues band to explore the music of their heroes. They added a horn section (including Rich Lataille) in 1970 and released their self-titled debut album in 1977 on Island Records (reissued on Hyena Records), which brought them to the attention of fans and critics from coast to coast. The band has performed in cities around the world, travelling abroad to 22 countries including Lebanon, Poland, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey and Russia. The New Yorker says the band brings “thunderous performances that get feet stomping and hands clapping.”

The performance will take place at The Knickerbocker Music Center, 35 Railroad Ave, Westerly at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. For more information, visit www.knickmusic.com or call 401-315-5070.

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