Greg Piccolo & Heavy Juice – Who Knows What The Future Holds
MoMojo Records – 2026
11 tracks; 44 minutes
Now 75, Greg Piccolo has had a stellar career and remains an in-demand sax player on the scene. He came to prominence with Roomful Of Blues where he spent 25 years leading the band on tenor sax and lead vocals. In 1994 he established Heavy Juice, a smaller band that would allow him to ‘do his own thing’. Greg has played with Heavy Juice ever since but has also featured on sax with the likes of Jimmie Vaughan and his Tilt-A-Whirl band. On this album Greg handles all lead vocals and tenor sax, joined in the horn section by two-thirds of The Texas Horns, Mark ‘Kaz’ Kazanoff on baritone sax and Al Gomez on trumpet. Heavy Juice is Shinichi Otsu on keys, Dean Shot guitar, Paul Tomasello bass and Bob Ruggiero drums; vocal group 14 Karat Soul feature on the title cut. All the songs here are originals written by Greg over the years but not recorded until now. This was one of the final recordings produced by Terry Manning who passed away unexpectedly just after the session.
The horns feature on nine of these tunes and, although Greg does take four tenor solos, the emphasis is more on the songs which exhibit a great mix of styles. Opener “I’ve Lost Faith” has a chugging rhythm with exciting horn blasts as Greg feels totally let down by a departed lover, whose name was, of course, Faith! Dean adds a ringing solo to give the tune a Texas feel. “Truth Is A Sly Fox” has a slinky rhythm and contains a clear warning: “when you least expect it he’ll come sneaking in your yard and if you’re lying he’ll detect it, and when he bites, he’ll bite you hard”. We then get some Ska rhythms on “People Are Hot”, Greg singing this one particularly well and taking a fine solo on the infectious tune. “Let’s Play It In The Car” is an appropriately joyous celebration of the joy of music on the move with a great horn chart and terrific drumming that drives the tune forward.
The horns sit out the heartfelt break-up ballad “She Couldn’t Stay” which features Shinichi’s piano stylings and a superb organ solo before we return to upbeat Rn’B with “Don’t Tell Me The Truth”. One of the highlights of the album is the swinging “Dream Girl” which sounds like a lost Roomful tune, twinkling piano, great horn arrangement and a booting tenor solo from Greg – a terrific tune all round! “Break In The Clouds” is a lush ballad with world-weary lyrics: “We all have our dreams, they can be a heavy load; we do our best to carry them along the path as we go, look for a place to lay them down and forget them for a while”. Greg’s moody solo fits the mood of the song perfectly, as does his expressive vocal. That leads us to “Guilty”, the second song without horns, a tune that focuses all the attention on Greg’s vocals as he is supported just by the piano: “If trusting people was a crime I’d have to plead guilty every time”. The title track changes things up again with the doo-wop style backing vocals of 14 Karat Soul a perfect fit for the leisurely island rhythms of this one, whilst lyrically Greg is looking back at his life, reflecting on how hard it is to guess to predict the future. The album concludes on an uptempo feel with “I’m Movin’ On”.
At this stage of his career it is great to find Greg coming out with an album that is all his own material and ranges across many styles. Most Blues Blast readers should find music they enjoy on this strong release.
