BLUES: the real deal, West Coast style, half from the 40s & 50s, half originals.

13 MP3 Songs
BLUES: Electric Blues, BLUES: Jazzy Blues



Details:
B L U E T U N A

Cryin'

blues from the west coast scene of the 1940s, 1950s, & beyond, with a half-dozen BLUE TUNA originals

"Plenty of muscle." Blues Revue
"Class musicianship perched at the top of the heap." Blues FreePress
"The CD is one of the best I've ever heard." BlueSpeak
"After I'm gone, you'll be the man!" Charles Brown


This new CD by veteran blues club band BLUE TUNA is a deep fusion of Chicago and West Coast electrified blues traditions. Screaming guitars, tasty keys, fabulous horns, and a rhythm section that just won't quit.

Unlike any blues album you've ever heard, "Cryin'" is half 'original' blues and the other half tunes from the West Coast scene of the 1940s and 1950s by Charles Brown, T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Lowell Fulsom.


on the web at www.bluetunas.com


reviews:

"There's plenty of muscle in the blues of Blue Tuna. On Cryin' (self-release), all the pieces fit together perfectly: Tom Lutz's bold keyboard work, the tough-knock bass-drum work of John Stefaniak and Kerri Collings, and sterling guitar by a variety of axemen. Whether on the pulverizing blues-rocker Don't Owe You or the smooth seven-minute ballad Trouble Blues, these guys know exactly where they're going."
--Jeff Calvin, Blues Revue

"Bandleader/keyboardist Tom Lutz ably anchors center stage with his passionate, vintage-blues vocal rasp, but the group boasts mondo firepower from all stations. Ace guitarists Gary Gibson, Steve Grismore, and Johnny Kilowatt constitute an embarrassment of riches, bassist John Stefaniak and showy tub-thumper Kerri Collings form one of the swingin'-est rhythm sections around, and 'CannonSaul' Lubaroff curls off beauties on both alto and tenor. The 13 tracks on Cryin' are divided almost evenly between swinging, '40s/'50s-era big-band blues standards (by Charles Brown, T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Lowell Fulsom) and a half-dozen cool Lutz originals that are so thoroughly in-the-tradition that they slip into the mix without causing a ripple. The hour-plus-long disc's sound is big, airy, and natural, and the grooves are deep and relentless. Kudos, too, to the 'PostBohemian' horn section."
--Jim Musser, ICPC

"Blue Tuna are a band from the Los Angeles area who dedicate this album to the memories of Charles Brown, Lowell Fulsom, T Bone Walker & Jimmy Witherspoon. The focal personality in Blue Tuna would appear to be Tom Lutz who is credited in the liner notes as having written 5 tracks & to have co-written one other of the 13 cuts presented on Cryin'. In line with their homage the remaining tracks are reworkings of some of their idol's songs which helped make that special Blues-meets-jazz idiom of '40's & '50's west coast USA. In keeping with the era portrayed there are horns a-plenty but also, keeping things right up to date, some tasteful guitar work from the 3 guest players and some fiercely funky arrangements. There's something for most tastes here with class musicianship perched at the top of the heap."
--Judge Jones, Blues FreePress

"I must admit, the Blues capital of the world that I call home has made me a bit pompous when it comes to judging Blues whose derivation is someplace other than Memphis (or very close by). So, when I put in the Blue Tuna CD, boasting a "blues-jazz fusion that is West Coast Blues," I immediately put my game face on, ready to detect any note that was the least bit off-key.
"Blue Tuna's Cryin' did not appease me by adding more fuel to my pompous fire. It made me have to completely retract my theory about Memphis Blues. The CD is one of the best I've ever heard.
"There are 13 tracks on the album-7 are tributes to the artists that influenced the Blue Tuna sound like Johnny Tucker, T-Bone Walker, and Charles Brown. The other 6 songs are Blue Tuna originals-which are just as good as the covered tunes."
--Rosilyn Parashis, BlueSpeak


"The world's most overeducated blues band."
--Ben Keiffer, WSUI

"Cryin' has a great jazzy blues feel with plenty of support from a fine horn section. It represents a nice change of pace from the Chicago or Texas style of blues we so often experience in the Midwest."
--Jeffrey Durbin, Bluespaper

www.bluetunas.com