Roomful of Blues Celebrates 45 Years with New CD & Live Performance in New Hope

Source: Chris M. Slawecki
October 16, 2013
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In celebration of their 45th anniversary, Roomful of Blues, the jumping, swinging, rocking, award-winning band, have released their new live CD, 45 LIVE, and will perform at Havana in New Hope on Friday, October 18, 2013. The album is a lightning-in-a-bottle blowout, showcasing the larger-than-life vocal and instrumental power of the band. 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. With their masterful combination of jumping, horn-heavy blues and R&B, it's no wonder why the great

Count Basie

piano
1904 - 1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Count Basie called them “the hottest blues band I've ever heard."

Concert information: Friday, October 18, 2013 Havana 105 South Main Street New Hope, PA Showtime: 8:00pm Ticket price: $30

For the recording, the band hosted a three-day party in March of 2013 at one of their favorite haunts, The Ocean Mist, in Matunuck, Rhode Island. They packed the club to capacity, playing to roaring ovations each night. The resulting album, 45 LIVE, is among Roomful of Blues' crowning achievements. 45 LIVE, produced by bandleader/guitarist Chris Vachon, features 14 songs (over an hour of music) spanning the entirety of the band's history. The tracks were carefully chosen by Vachon, who included some of the group's best known originals like “Dressed Up To Get Messed Up," “Turn It On, Turn It Up," and “That's Right!," as well as tunes the band had previously recorded or performed with blues giants

Joe Turner

piano
1907 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Turner ("Crawdad Hole"),

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson

saxophone, alto
1917 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson ("Somebody's Got To Go") and

Earl King

guitar, electric
b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Earl King ("It All Went Down The Drain").

The band has been led since 1998 by Vachon, who according to Guitar Player, “burns with explosive solos and a delightfully greasy sense of rhythm." Roomful of Blues has always maintained its signature sound through great musicianship and a stellar horn section featuring

Rich Lataille

" data-original-title="" title="">Rich Lataille , who first joined the band in 1970 on tenor and alto saxophone (and clarinetist on 45 LIVE's “Jambalaya"). Lataille's masterful playing can evoke either the fat-toned honking sax of the glory days of early rock or the cool elegance of big band swing jazz.

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 vocalist Phil Pemberton, long-time tenor and baritone saxophonist Mark Earley, trumpeter

Doug Woolverton

" data-original-title="" title="">Doug Woolverton, bassist

Johnny Turner

b.1934

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnny Turner, drummer Chris Rivelli and keyboardist

Rusty Scott

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Rusty Scott.

Roomful of Blues came together in Westerly, Rhode Island in the late 1960s when guitarist

Duke Robillard

guitar, steel
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Robillard and keyboardist

Al Copley

" data-original-title="" title="">Al Copley began exploring the swinging, jumping blues, R&B and jazz of the 1940s and 1950s. They added a horn section (including Rich Lataille) in 1970. The band's ability to ignite a sedate crowd into a dancing frenzy solidified their reputation as the best “little big band" in New England and expanded their following into New York and Washington, D.C. In 1974, they performed with Count Basie, and a few years later legendary songwriter

Doc Pomus

composer / conductor
1925 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Doc Pomus helped them land their first record deal. In 1977, Roomful of Blues' self-titled debut album on Island Records (reissued on Hyena Records) brought them to the attention of fans and critics from coast to coast.

Over the years there have been more than 50 Roomful of Blues members, each bringing his or her own unique talent and vision to the mix. Famed alumni include guitarist

Ronnie Earl

guitar, electric
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Ronnie Earl, vocalist

Lou Ann Barton

vocals
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Lou Ann Barton, vocalist/harpist

Curtis Salgado

b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Curtis Salgado, saxophonist/vocalist

Greg Piccolo

b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Greg Piccolo and harpist/vocalist

Sugar Ray Norcia

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Sugar Ray Norcia. Recording for Rounder Records' Bullseye Blues and Varrick labels between 1980 and 2001, the band cut nine albums that won them international fame and major rock radio airplay. The band has performed in cities from coast to coast, and traveled abroad to 22 countries including Lebanon, Poland, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey and Russia.

Since Roomful joined the Alligator Records family in 2003, their popularity has continued to increase. Their first Alligator CD was the Grammy-nominated That's Right! in 2003, followed by Standing Room Only in 2005, Raisin' A Ruckus in 2008 and Hook, Line & Sinker in 2010.

With 45 LIVE, Roomful of Blues has fully captured the frenetic energy and musical power of their live show. The band will hit the road hard once again, so people can see and hear for themselves why The Chicago Sun-Times said, “This is a band on top of its game, sliding easily from big-band jazz-blues to guitar-drenched urban blues...let the party begin."

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