Roomful of Blues

01.15.2008 -- Review by: Joel Schwelling

Eddie seemed to have been dressed by Dizzy Gillespie; beret, soul patch, a nice selection of double-breasted suits, late 50’s Thelonious Monk shades and enough over the top cool factor to carry it all out. He also had a most impressive blues and jazz record collection. It’s no surprise that Eddie is now a successful comedy writer in LA (I’ll lay claim to contributing to his show-biz start by giving him the “Saturday Night Hi-Fi Party” show on WERS-FM in Boston). Eddie, also from Providence, was a friend of the band and of Roomful’s founder, the great blues guitarist/singer Duke Robillard. At the time, Duke was playing a big hollow body Gibson and was completely absorbed in the sound of his mentor, the great T-Bone Walker. The most memorable time I had with Eddie was hanging with Duke and Muddy Waters and band during their engagement at Paul’s Mall on Boylston Street in Boston. This was sometime in 1976 or 1977. Sadly, I didn’t have the presence of mind to have a picture taken. Actually, I was so intimidated by the company I was keeping that I stayed in the background and quietly sipped my two-drink minimum.

Roomful of Blues has been through many changes over the intervening years. Yet they have admirably stayed true to their core, while growing in ways that manage to remain authentic and natural. Although tenor and alto player Rich Latille is the only remaining original member, the list of who’s passed through Roomful over the years is most impressive. In addition to Duke Robillard, guitarist Ronnie Earl, singer Lou Ann Baron, keyboardist Ron Levy and blues harp maestro Sugar Ray Nocia have all contributed to the Roomful canon. The remarkable thing about Roomful is just how fresh the band sounds. While they continue to refine the music that has always driven the band---swing driven blues in the mode of T-Bone Walker, Count Basie, Big Joe Turner and Louie Jordan---they also now mine the rich vein of New Orleans rhythms on tracks like “I Would Be a Sinner,” “Solid Jam,” “New Orleans” and “Every Dog Has Its Day.” Also, there’s just purely rocking tracks like “Lower on Your List of Priorities,” “Sweet Petite” and “Big Mamou.” And the title track is a swinging excursion into small ensemble jazz that not only calls to mind the Count Basie small group tracks featuring Lester Young but also the tight arrangements of Ray Charles when David �Fathead� Newman and Hank Crawford populated the horn section.

Another quality in common with past editions is the soulful, gritty vocals and harp by Dave Howard. And to be Roomful of Blues you’ve got to have musicians with the following attributes; Chris Vachon supplying the requisite slinky blues guitar, Drummer Ephraim Lowell holding down the backbeat, Travis Colby on the eight to the bar piano action, the empathic horns of the aforementioned Latille, Bob Enos on trumpet and Mark Earley on tenor and baritone sax. And on bass is Dmitry Gorodetsky. Is he Eddie’s son/cousin/brother/uncle? Who knows, but it’s nice to know the spirit of Eddie still lives in Roomful of Blues