OK think Soulful Blues Drenched Vocals with just the right amount of Harmonica sprinkled in. Now add a band to DIE for: Phoebe Snow on guest Vocal, Harvey Brooks, Chuck Rainey and Will Lee on BASS, Bernard Purdie, Shawn Pelton & Chris Parker on DRUMS.

15 MP3 Songs in this album (70:10) !
Related styles: BLUES: Funky Blues, JAZZ: Jazz-Funk

People who are interested in Delbert McClinton Toots Thielemans Paul Butterfield should consider this download.


Details:
Singer-Harmonica Maestro Rob Paparozzi Showcases Range of Styles on Striking Debut Album âEtruscan Soulâ

âPlease take the time to listen to Robâs new album. Iâm positive you will be amazed if you have not heard him before.â
--Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the MGs, original Blues Brothers Band)

âRobâs CD sounds amazing and his performances are over-the-top killing!â
--Will Lee (David Letterman, Fab Faux)

Native New Yorker Rob Paparozzi is a special artist who sings and plays harmonica with just the right blend of verve and empathy on his first feature album Etruscan Soulânow available on the Honeydripper Records label. The front man with the legendary, globetrotting, Blood, Sweat & Tears and the popular Tri-State area Hudson River Rats is joined on this swinging and intelligent rock-blues-soul-jazz-r&b release by world-class talent. The supporting vocalists are the one-and-only Phoebe Snow, Vanesse Thomas, and Antonique Smith. Among the stellar sideman are guitarists Leo Nocentelli (from the Meters), Chuck Rainey, Hugh McCracken, and George Naha; bassists Harvey Brooks and Will Lee; keyboardists John Korba and Ed Alstrom; and drummers Bernard âPrettyâ Purdie, Chris Parker, and Shawn Pelton.

Paparozzi says in the liner notes that these âskilled musicians help me paint the muse deep inside my âEtruscan Soulâ.â Itâs way more than a snappy album title. The phrase is defined throughout the 15 songs of the recording by the depth and clarity of the manâs singing and his harmonica playing. The special you-know-it-when-you-hear-it spiritâyes, Etruscan Soulâthat motors Paparozziâs music traces back many centuries to his familyâs origins in ancient Etruria, the west-central Italian country whose great civilization was eclipsed by Rome in the third century B. C. Talk about good genes.

Combining soulfulness and musical imagination, Paparozzi exhibits a natural ability to personalize songs that rate among his all-time favorites. He has chosen carefully from the treasure-troves of classic pop, rock, blues-rock, and jazz: the Beatlesâ âTicket To Ride,â Creamâs âStrange Brew,â Stephen Stillsâ âLove the One Youâre With,â Randy Newmanâs âI Think Itâs Going To Rain Today,â Stingâs âSheâs Too Good for Me,â Steely Danâs âPeg,â and Elton John & Bernie Taupinâs âBorder Song.â The man knows his way around top-grade blues and r&b songbooks too, revamping in his distinctive way Delbert McClintonâs âMonkey Around,â Kebâ Moââs âKeep It Simple,â Allen Toussaintâs âIâm Gone,â Little Willie Johnâs âLet Them Talk,â Arthur Adamsâs âLove and Peaceâ (covered years back by Quincy Jones, the Jazz Crusaders, etc.) and the standard âPeg Oâ My Heart.â Thereâs also a fresh, inventive arrangement of the Quincy Jones film soundtrack number that Ray Charles interpreted so stirringly, âIn the Heat of the Night,â plus the jazz chestnut âBody and Soul.â

No wonder Paparozzi is held in such high regard by Steve Cropper, Will Lee, Snow, New Orleans music giants Nocentelli and Toussaint, the great soulmen Purdie and Rainey, and so many other American Music luminaries around the country. He sings songs with immense feeling, never with exaggeration or cheap sentiment. Itâs well nigh impossible, really, to single out one vocal or harmonica performance above all the rest here because heâs so consistent with the lyricism of his expertly played harmonica and with the eloquence of his vocals. Thereâs plenty proof that heâs a superior blues player. No doubt Toots Thielemans would give a big smile upon hearing what this spry fifty-something does with his harmonica again and again. At all times, Paparozzi brings forth music straight from his heart, and his blue-ribbon accompanists respond in kind.

Frank-John Hadley
DownBeat/ Grove Press author