GIGs Katrina Piano Fund Benefit
GIGs LI Blues Challenge
GIGs Marco Conelli / String Alley
GIGs Hank Stone
GIGs Bad Religion
GIGs Reel Big Fish / The Tossers


KATRINA’S PIANO FUND RELIEF BENEFIT

Friday, Oct. 28th at Mr. Beerys

by Mike Ferrari






Katrina’s Piano Fund is a charity founded by New Orleans musicians immediately after the Katrina Hurricane slammed the Gulf Region and devastated the area. It’s purpose is to resupply the working musicians of New Orleans with new instruments that they had lost due to flooding and the hurricane.

Aural Fix in conjunction with the Long Island Musicians Support Network (otherwise known as LIMSN), Long Island Music Hall of Fame (LIMHoF), Mr. Beerys, 21st Century Music Radio, WLIE, and WCWP all banded together for a night of New Orleans inspired fun and fund raising.

The Mr. Beerys bar was done up in Halloween and Mardi Gras decorations and music and film filled the evening. Before the live music started there was a special screening of the Leslye Abbey documentary, “Let The Good Times Roll” which chronicled the lives of working musicians down in New Orleans – precisely whom this benefit was being held for.

LIMSN Co-Chair Russ Rogers and his band String Alley took the stage first with a short but delightful set of their acoustic blue grassy americana. Russ then rushed out to Stephan’s Talkhouse to play with one of his many other bands, The John Sullivan Brigade who are touring in support of their new CD.

After the String Alley set, young guitar prodigy J.P. Blues dazzled the crowd with his youngblood approach to his namesake genre, with the seasoned MNB3 band backing him all the way.

A second video presentation was then made by Leslye Abbey, followed by a blessing from a New Orleans native american chief (and N.O. fireman) in his native tongue.

With the stage blessed it was time to bring out the evening’s big guns! First of which was Vince Martell and his band. Martell of course is from the legendary Long Island hard rock band, Vanilla Fudge (and in the first class of inductees into the LIMHoF). In 1994 Guitar Magazine ranked Vanilla Fudge's arrangement of “You Keep Me Hanging On” at No. 4 out of the 50 Heaviest Guitar Riffs Of All Time.

Martell and his band rocked out with both new originals, Fudge classics and some crowd pleasing covers. Afterwards he was hanging out with everyone, signing autographs and having a good time.

Closing out the night was John Ford of the British folk rock sensation, the Strawbs. Ford wrote "Part of the Union," which was the Strawbs biggest hit. Mr. Ford was joined by his son John Jr. on bass and the two played both John Ford and Strawb originals as well as many covers.

Like most Beery shows, this one went late into the wee hours of the morning, but it was all for a good cause! Over $500 was raised to go to the Katrina Piano Fund to buy new instruments for New Orleans musicians.

To find out more about the Katrina Piano Fund go to:
www.katrinaspianofund.org


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LI BLUES SOCIETY’S
INTERNATIONAL
BLUES CHALLENGE


by Russ Rogers





LI Blues Society’s Annual ''Send 'Em Off to Memphis'' Challenge was Saturday November 13th. This was part of the International Blues Challenge to send the best blues bands from around the country to Memphis to compete in one of the nations most important Blues music conventions. Mr. Beery’s was packed with Blues lovers cheering on Long Islands best blues acts. The man himself, Mark “Doc Blues” Gresser was on board as host. He was most certainly right when he said, “The performers here today represent the very best of the Blues, that Long Island has to offer”. All acts were judged on performance, talent, stage presence and blues content. With a very strong line up of artists, it was a very hard task for the judges to find a winner.

First up was “Jack O’ Diamonds”, This trio featuring Josh on guitar, Mike on drums and Jim on bass were cranking out some “Stevie Ray style” blues with each taking turns with vocal duties. There was some fine and tasteful lead work from Josh’s guitar all throughout the set. This fairly new but very accomplished group made for a great start of the show.

Up next, “T-bone and the hatchet men featuring Franny Mae” this five piece took the stage with some hot style jump-blues. Tommy T-bone on guitar gave some hustle with a shuffle. “Uncle” Russ and “lonesome” Tony laid down the bottom end, while Bill Quinn on Hammond “took em’ to church”. Franny Mae’s pure “delta by-way-of New Orleans” vocals provided the finishing touch to what was a fantastic and rousing set.

Next up was the youngest gun on the scene, JP Blues and MNB3. JP Blues knows how to work a crowd and it shows! The band ripped through some hot rocking blues seasoned with modern soul. At one point toward the end of their set, JP took the high road with his Strat and jumped atop Beery’s bar for an extended solo. I’m sure we will be hearing a lot more from this talented young gun for years to come.

Pamela Betti and the Bluebloods, were the next challengers to take the stage. The Blueblood’s kicked into their set with full force making a nice intro for Ms. Pamela to take the stage and serve up a very hot set of blues. This talented Gal has got a voice steeped in the Chicago and Delta Blues traditions. She truly demonstrated the way it’s done. Jim Moran’s guitar playing was a real treat. His leads were just the right complement to Pamela’s sweet soulful vocals. Next time you’re in the mood for the blues, Check out Pamela and The Bluebloods.

Another Woman of the blues was up next, Sweet Suzie and the Blues Experience. Suzie and company didn’t waste any time getting to the heart of the matter. Her Vocal prowess stands out from the very first note. Suzie’s range, from soulful, gospel inspired tones to all out gritty delta wail. When the points were tallied at the end of the night, they scored the highest marks. With a bump, a grind and a shake, Suzie and the Blues Experience had what it took to take the win and represent Long Island in Memphis. Her stage presence really made the audience groove.

Garry Sellers took center stage next. A veteran sideman with many other blues outfits tonight was his turn to shine. Garry easily had the best tone of the show. Crisp, clean but with just the right amount bite. His originals were excellent! Well crafted tunes like “Slow and Steady” stick in your head. Between good tone, great songwriting and some fancy fretwork, Garry played a well-rounded, highly enjoyable set. It would be a good idea to search out one of Garry Sellers’ CD’s for more of his music. This Cat has got it.

Lex Grey and the Urban Pioneers got off the a little bit of a late start, but it sure didn’t effect their score. They had a wild Chicago “by-way-of” 60’s San Fransisco Blues tone and a stage routine to match. Lex belted out songs with a soulful, reckless abandon that would make Bessie Smith and Janis proud. This band has a Fantastic and energetic stage presence. Red-hot accompaniment and solo breaks by Veronica on harp. She has a Hot Slim Harpo / Little Walter tone, Down and dirty. Songs like “Tears of blue” and classic covers such as “Spoonful” and “Hesitation blues” all seamlessly flowed together into what was a real showstopper of a set. Be sure and check out the Urban Pioneers for to see just what I am talking about.

This was a great show through and though. You couldn’t ask for better performers. These artists truly represent the finest electric blues from Long Island. For more information on the Blues and where you can support one of America’s finest art forms, log on to: www.liblues.org


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Marco Conelli and String Alley
at Fiddlers Inn, Bellrose

By Roger Silverberg



The home court advantage definitely belonged to Marco Conelli when he and his bandmates took over Fiddlers Inn in Bellerose on an unusually warm early November Friday night.  Fiddlers Inn is very nice local bar/restaurant that attracts a regular crowd.  The affable Marco, still surfing the big wave he caught with the very favorable buzz he's gotten with his latest CD, "Measuring The Walls," was popular as a beloved politician as he schmoozed nearly everyone in the place while the band got set up to play.

Once the music began, I came away with a renewed faith that people who come to bars actually do listen to the music.  Marco, backed by fellow Queens residents Tommy DeMeco on lead guitar and Ray Forgione behind the kit, and augmented with String Alley's Jeff Rubenstein on bass, and Russ Rogers on mandolin and a lap steel, seemed at ease performing in a space where it is much easier for a musical act to be heard rather than seen.

As the by-now-familiar chords of "Winter of Discontent" chimed, Marco called out to the audience members by name, and waved at Crispy, the bartender and Dave, Fiddlers Inn's owner.  The man sure was glad to be playing in his backyard. For heaven's sake, this could've been a house concert in Marco's home!

The set mixed material from Marco's three albums with two covers, "Ring of Fire" which I had heard him do before at the Lakeside Lounge in Manhattan, and the surprise hit of the night, "Rhinestone Cowboy"?! Surgically inserted in the clean-up position in the batting order, this song had everybody, including this writer, singing the tune.  Everybody knew every word of a song that's got to be about 30 years old and was considered a pretty corny tune, even then!  Lesson learned: don't underestimate the appeal of a tune you don't hear much of any more.  Marco could've walked off right then and there and bought a city block in Bellerose with what he earned in goodwill.

But now that everyone was listening, Marco grew more introspective with tunes like "Raincloud," "Late September, Early October Affair," and "Search and Search" rounding out the set.  Marco's A-list players were joined by Spring Palser, also from String Alley, on fiddle for the last several tunes.
Following Marco, I played a 20 minute set, serving as the lead-in for String Alley.  I'll abstain from critiquing my own performance due to conflict of interest issues (yeah, like I'm running for public office any time soon!!!). I will note that with the complete String Alley line-up in the house, on deck and in tune, we performed "Banks of the Ohio River," a tune I simply will not play live without the Alley Katz behind me, not just for their wonderful, blue grassy instrumentation but the 4 part vocal harmonies we worked out for my CD.

Next, String Alley sung the crowd into the later hours with their inimitable blend of familiar 60s and 70s hits and originals done up in their seamless style.  Even the technical glitches didn't matter.  Jeff replaced a string as Russ and Spring kicked off an Irish jig.  (Is that what they call it?).  And sure enough, there was dancing in the aisles.

It was smiles all around as four Irish girls, who were probably there all along, began dancing with each other, having a grand ol' time.  And how'd I know they were Irish?  Just a few words said it all.

String Alley, Marco and company, and yours truly all were up  in a compact performance area doing tunes together at 1 am.  Jeff Rubenstein exchanged his 12 string acoustic for an electric and launched into "Wang Dang Doodle."  A dapper guy in a white silk tie got up and played the spoons!

Though stories of bar gigs going badly are plentiful and sometimes legendary, that was not the case this night.  The chemistry between establishment, performer, and audience was present and the formula resulted in making it somehow all feel like family.  So much so that the playing continued past  the appointed hour in an unplugged jam at the bar.
With quite a few patrons still hanging in, including the Irish girls who asked for--and got tunes from Eric Clapton and Van Morrison--Jeff, Spring, Russ, Marco, and Roger connected with these friends up close and personal. Score one for live music.  Still the far better value for your musical entertainment dollar.  Everyone had a good time and left satisfied.

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