The Blues Project – Live 2025
Globe Records
13 Tracks – 67 minutes
For those who are too young to know or for those not knowledgeable of the history of The Blues Project, a brief introduction to the long-ago history of this very important group from the 1960’s is required. The group led by Danny Kalb on lead guitar formed in 1965 and played alongside the major blues performers of that era including, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Big Joe Williams, Skip James, Son House and many others. The rest of the band consisted of Steve Katz on rhythm guitar and harmonica, Andy Kulberg on bass and flute, Al Kooper on organ and Roy Blumenfeld on drums. Prior to becoming the lead vocalist for the Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick pitched being the female lead vocalist for the group.
A series of sold-out performances at The Cafe-Au-Gogo led to the release of their first album in 1966, appropriately called Live at the Cafe-Au-Gogo. The group immediately turned people on (using 60’s vernacular) to the American blues heritage and helped to open doors for many blues musicians into the San Francisco scene.
However, after the release of the album, Kalb announced that The Blues Project did not want to just be a blues revival band but rather wanted to extend their reach to the music of the time, stretching to folk, jazz, soul, and rock in a blend of the music into their own path. Their later 1966 studio album, Projections, affirmed their intended direction and was well received. A follow-up album in 1967, Live at Town Hall, arrived again to great public and critical response. They played one final show in 1967 at the Monterey International Pop Festival. Kooper and Katz broke off to form Blood, Sweat and Tears. Kulberg and Blumenfeld continued, but eventually formed the group, Sea Train. Kalb and Blumenfeld later gathered a new group of musicians that released a couple of albums. In 1973, the original group reformed for a performance and a follow-up album titled Reunion in Central Park. The band continued to have reunions and releases in the 80’s and 90’s with various members and even as recently as 2012 with Kalb, Katz and Blumenfeld.
Which all leads to 2021 with Blumenfeld, now apparently the last original standing forming a new group of young musicians. That group has continued to evolve with the present line-up for this 2025 release with Roy Blumenfeld continuing on drums with David Aguilar and Mark Newman on guitar, Ken Clark on keyboards, and Tim Eschliman on bass. All take turns on lead vocals. The band continues the adventurous nature of the original members with some New Orleans vibe thrown in. The album was recorded during two live sessions in California and includes new originals from this line-up mixed with some of the original group’s back catalog and few additional covers.
The album opens with “Remedy” which was recorded by The Band in 1993. Roy takes the first lead vocal on the funky song. “I Can’t Keep from Crying” was written by Al Kooper and appeared on the group’s 1966 studio album. Ken takes the lead vocal with his organ rumbling through dynamically. Tim takes the lead vocals on “Motorfy”, a song he co-wrote and recorded in 1991 as he tells he will “put the top down” on his ’57 T-Bird and tells her “Go ahead and take off your shoes…and I’ll sing us some those good old-time blues”. “No place I’d rather be”.
“Evolution” written by Roy and Tim traces humankind in the opening with Roy citing “Crawling from the water, trying to see the light, I got two legs to walk on if I could only stand up right. Natural selection has made its contribution.” “Survival of the fittest in this world we are living in” “The world keeps on turning, nothing meant to last”. A jazzy run on the organ mixes with fine guitar runs on the song. “Inside Information” was written by Al Kooper and recorded with Mike Bloomfield in 1974. David takes the lead vocals as he advises “from the time you are a little bitty baby until they put you in the ground, people talkin’ to you, people squawking to you. Well, I’ll tell you where the answer is found. Right inside your body…your inside information tells just what to do”. A cover of “The Spirit Lingers On” recorded by Ellis Hall in 1999 is next with Ken back on lead vocals in a funky soul song.
“Flute Thing” written by Al Kooper and appearing on their 1966 studio album quickly became a staple of the group. Ken performs on the flute recreating the original instrumental. “Plutonium Bob” is an original co-written by Roy and David with Roy back on vocals. Roy tells a story of Bob, “Who is working in the basement on his homemade cyclotron” and features a wild jazz mix of keyboards and guitars. “All Over the Map” was written by Ken and features him again on lead vocal as he states that “people stop and stare” “because he likes to break the rules” Each musician gets to have a moment of their own on the track.
“Tulsa” was written by Mark Newman and Walter Roberti and released in 2021 in commemoration of the 1921 Tula Massacre and in celebration of Juneteenth. Mark performs the lead as he did with the original release. “Stand Up” has a bit of a Little Feat vibe as they urge everyone to “stand up, identify and testify”. David takes the lead on ZZ Top’s 1975 “Heard it on the X”. They conclude with “Wake Me Shake Me” another song written by Al Kooper that appeared on their 1966 album as Ken cries “Don’t let me sleep too long. Try to make it in due time before the heaven’s doors close”.
The music crosses many paths as did the sound of the original group and their many permutations. Roy states in the album notes “We will always be band who attempt to think out of the box, but what is the box anymore? It’s about live music and creating that live space where we flourish”. The present musicians have continued that premise with high energy and a mixture of styles and song selection mixing humor and some social comment while also pausing to recall the original Blues Project.
