Roomful of Blues August 5, 2006 Cedar Rapids, IA Bluesmore 2006
on the grounds of the Brucemore mansion. FM
Over the course of their decades-long existence, Roomful of Blues effectively became a franchise unto themselves, built more on a brand-name collective identity than on the voices of the myriad individual members who kept the band a smoothly humming machine.
Describing Roomful of Blues that way, however, gives short shrift to the many accomplished musicians who have emerged from the band's ranksover the years: guitarists Duke Robillard and Ronnie Earl, Mark Dufresne, organist Ron Levy, pianist Al Copley, singer Lou Ann Barton, vocalist/harmonica player Sugar Ray Norcia, and drummer Fran Christina (later of the Fabulous Thunderbirds), to name the most prominent. Plus, the band's horn section blossomed into a renowned freelancing unit, backing countless other artists both on-stage and in the studio.
They've evolved over the years, too; from a swinging jump blues revivalist group into expert blues historians with a handle on numerous regional variations: Texas, the West Coast, Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City. Perhaps the best way to put it is that regardless of who was in the group, Roomful of Blues just kept going strong.
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