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| The Return Of The City Boys Allstars at The Cutting Room The Return Of The City Boys Allstars: Saturday, September 27th, 11:30PM 90 Min set At The Cutting Room (44 East 32nd Street, NY NY 10010) Featuring Guitars: Mike Merola, Bass: Al MacDowell, Keys: Rob Clores, Drums: Nick Saya, Percussion: Daniel Sadownick, Vocals: Bil Kurz, Angel Rissoff, Horace Scott, Trumpets: Tony Kadleck & Lew Soloff, Sax's: Blue Lou Marini & Andy Snitzer, Trombone: Tom Bones Malone New CD "BLINDED BY THE NIGHT" (City Boys Mike Productions LLC CBOYS03-2) Street Date: September 2, 2014 Tracks: Testimony 5:31 Robbie Jaime Robertson (WB Music Corp. OBO Medicine Hat Music ASCAP) Funky Peaches 4:50 David Bennett Cohen, (Rich Hen Music, BMI) Where Have You Been? 6:44 Angel Rissoff & Richard Borken, (Rissoff Music, BMI) God Bless the Child 6:29 Billie Holiday & Arthur Herzog Jr., (Edward B. Marks Music Company, BMI) Strung Out 4:41 Frankie Paris & Harry Holt, (Nana Pudding Publishing, ASCAP) The Vow 5:24 Horace Scott & Bennett Paster, (Derayco Music, Wurliboy Music, Cityboysmike Music ASCAP/SEASAC) More Where That Came From 5:41 Angel Rissoff, (Rissoff Music, BMI) When You Needed Me 5:49 Horace Scott/Connie Alexander/Antonio Jacobs, (Derayco Music, Blacklieder Music, Cityboysmike Music ASCAP) City Boy Blues 3:38 David Bennet Cohen, (Rich Hen Music, BMI) Musicians: Mike Merola, guitar; Al MacDowell, bass; Rob Clores, keyboards; Nick Saya, drums; Daniel Sadownick, percussion; Bil Kurz, Angel Rissoff, and Horace Scott II, vocals; Tony Kadleck and Lew Soloff, trumpets; Andy Snitzer, Lou Marini, and Tom Malone, saxophones; Tom Malone, trombone. Horn arrangements by Tony Kadleck, Tom Malone, Lou Marini, Jim Pugh, Fred Lipsius, and Pete Levin. "Speak the truth!" That was one of the heartfelt rallying cries shouted by members of The City Boys Allstars at their gig at The Cutting Room in home base New York City on the evening of August 28, 2013. As the band's first performance in 17 years, it was a very special night, and the new album Blinded By the Night captures all the excitement generated by these ten musicians and three singers, who are among the most honest and skilled performers in the country. No band anywhere sounds like the fun-but-serious City Boys Allstars, whose alluring combination of jazz, R&B, blues, soul, and rock elements seems at once classic and fresh. There are tight horn bands but these gentlemen are more than that. "What really strikes me is [how] playing together comes extremely easy, " affirms bandleader Mike Merola, whose sure-fingered guitar playing acknowledges Joe Pass (jazz) and B. B. King (blues) as influences. "There was always chemistry here that everybody seems to dig. Nobody could say this was a put-together band because these guys have been into it since the day they met me and I came up with the concept in 1988." In preparation for the Cutting Room concert, the horn and rhythm sections only needed a couple rehearsals to get the communicative chemistry just right. After one full-band workout, they were more than ready for the Manhattan club date. Mike Merola's band brings resonant authority to all nine songs on Blinded By the Night.. The horns crackle with ebullience, and the rhythm section shows its sturdiness and dependability. Each of the three vocalists-Bil Kurz, Angel Rissoff, and Horace Scott II- sparkles in his own way, alert to the expressive properties of the words and to the arc of melodies belonging to strong material from within the band (Angel Rissoff, Horace Scott II) or from outside sources (Robbie Robertson, ex-Country Joe & the Fish member David Bennet Cohen, late great NYC blues singer Frankie Paris, and the Billie Holiday songbook). Solos, placed thoughtfully in the crisp, intelligent arrangements, are uniformly excellent, as one might expect from world-class jazzmen like trumpeters Lew Soloff ("God Bless the Child, " "Funky Peaches, " "Where Have You Been?"), Tony Kadleck ("The Vow"), Andy Snitzer ("When You Needed Me"), jazz & blues saxophonist Lou Marini ("Testimony, " "More Where That Came From"), and guitarist Mike Merola ("God Bless the Child, " "Funky Peaches, " "City Boy Blues, " "Strung Out"), and, not least, keyboardist Rob Clores ("Where Have You Been?"). Without question, bassist Al MacDowell, drummer Nick Saya, and percussionist Daniel Sadownick are as important to the success of City Boys Allstars music as the others, evidencing their considerable skills while radiating pure energy at all times. One of many highlights: MacDowell and Sadownick conjure deep NYC/New Orleans magic when putting a charge into "City Boy Blues." Each and every band member is deeply devoted to making the best music possible, and they do just that. It's certainly worth noting the high quality of the album's sound reproduction. Kudos go to mastering wizard Greg Calbi-his credits are innumerable, including the latest batch of Beatles reissues-and to expert mixer Joseph Borges, from Broccoli Rabe Entertainment Complex, the acclaimed sound recording studio industry firm in New Jersey. All's going very well for Mike Merola and the City Boys Allstars. In addition to the release of the concert album, there's a stirring new studio album ready to go. Longtime and new fans of the band will be happy to know these ace singers and musicians, despite being in demand for other projects, are committed to finding the time for more gigs, both stateside and overseas. "This thing could really explode, " the bandleader says with characteristic honesty. "I don't think there's anything like us out there, quite frankly." write your comments about the article :: © 2014 Jazz News :: home page |