Put on the leather jacket, button up the blue jeans and hop in the car…
Instrumental blues bands are a rare treat these days, so Manhattan Alley, consisting of Admir Hadzic/b, Barry Harrison/dr, Zach Zunis/g, Jim ALfredson/B3, Anthony Kane/harp and a collection of guests comes at the right time. With support by Chris Eminizer/sax, Bill Vits/shakers, KevinJones/perc and Louis Rudner, the team comes off like a STAX backup band with riveting blues such as the husky “SDW” and the chunky semi sweet “You Gotta Start Somewhere.” Zunis’s six string rocks with soul on “Happy” while Alfredson has the Hammond humming on the hip “Deep Talkin’.” Some wild wacka wooka guitar gets the funky chicken cooking on “Steamroller” while some Deep Purple keyboards light up “Subway Rumble” and get churchy on “Love As I Know It.” I’d love to see these guys back up some baritone vocalist in Memphis, but on their own they make it work just fine. A dry rub BBQ delight.
Consisting of Kevin McCann/g-voc, Dave Hotzman/harp-voc, Jeff Michael/b, Bob Holden/dr and guests Anthony Geraci/p, the Little Red Rooster Band is a barroom delight, delivering bluesy honky tonk like Friday night at the Moose Lodge. McCann’s fuzzy guitar creates earth tones on the New Orleans beat on “Drinkin’ Wine On My Dime” while getting bluesy on “Ready For Goodbye.” Holtzman’s harp agonizes on “Nothin’ Left Between Us” and wails with emotion on “Thrift Shop Rubbers” while his tribute to James Cotton is a hoot on “Cotton Mouth.” Holden rumbles on a Bo Diddley grooved “ Trouble in the Jungle” while the gospel mooded “Six Strong Men” has a revival clap to set the groove. Geraci’s piano takes you to the parlor on the denim “Pitchin’ Woo” and digs deep with the team on the fun and frolicky title track. A V8 special with twin pipes.