Roomful of Blues - In A Roomful of Blues (Album Review)

This is the blues. It has many other ingredients. Funk, soul, Zydeco, Jazz, and Rock. But under this big tent known as The Roomful of Blues, you will discover what real music sounds like with all of it's stylistic shadings. A band like this is no longer a band but an institution with roots dating back to 1967. You can sample many of their albums from the 1980's until now and there's no question that these boys from Rhode Island have made an eternal mark on the music scene. Roomful is best served live but when you hear these new studio tracks, you will feel as though the band is right there in the room with you. It would not be an understatement to say this could be their best album to date. If anything there is more consistency to these tracks. And in the year 2020, this kind of music hits you like an oxygen tank filled with feel good grooves and authenticity. Who knew old time rock and roll could be counter-cultural? But there is no question that Roomful of Blues is like a musical oasis from the sterile computerized world of bland.

"What Can I Do" opens this collection like a freight train carrying box cars filled with '57 Chevy's. Your ears will marvel at the stand up bass, and the searing guitar work. Horns will blast you from your screen induced trance on "You Move Me". Rather than reinventing the wheel, Roomful of Blues will help you rediscover it. The band has even recorded a song about themselves called "In A Roomful of Blues". A whimsical historical reading of a career of more than a half century, drenched in horns and amazing guitar parts. Chris Vachon's guitar work comprises some of your most familiar blues players. You might hear Eric Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughan or even Robert Cray. Vachon is a master tradesman who lays it down with the best of them. Vocalist Phil Pemberton sings with a funky swagger and some old school machismo. You'll love the swampy "Watch Your Back" and the prescient "Phone Zombies".

There is a mixed bag of sarcasm and seriousness in most of these songs. Ten of which are written by the band. You'll swing to "She's Too Much" with it's dance floor cadence and those perfectly placed horn parts along with sax and trumpet solos. You'll Zydeco your way onto the dance floor for the Cajun baked "Have You Heard". No need to travel the world when you can put on this album. This isn't just world music, it's around the world music. You'll get a dose of late night blues on "Carcinoma Blues" where the band stretches out as they discuss an actual cancer patient. After all this is the blues. With that said, the guitar work on this track and the horn section is pure ear therapy. "Too Much Boogie" will take your mind off of the cancer patient and will persuade your toes to tap on your way back out to the dance floor. It's modern day big band blues.

Other fine tracks include the funky soul of "Let The Sleeping Dog Lie" and the punky blues of "We'd Have A Love Sublime".  There's even a jazzy ballad in the middle of the album called "She Quit Me Again" which will give you a breather in-between dance numbers. This is old school rock with nods to all the great styles that led to the birth of rock and roll. This music might not appeal to people who've been conditioned by electronic devices and the 24 hour news cycle. As I write this the world is enveloped in the Coronavirus. But I can't think of a better musical anecdote to a world in chaos than Roomful of Blues. These kind of rock and roll pathogens can cure what ails the soul.

Album rating 9.7