Music Review: Paulie Cerra integrates a wide-range of influences and expression
Musician Paulie Cerra trades in a rich amalgam of vernacular American musical styles. It’s a deep, atmospheric sound predicated upon a spontaneous approach — and Cerra, who appears Sunday at Joe’s Great American Bar & Grill, doesn’t just give his bandmates a free hand, he demands that each contribute their own individualized forms of expression.
“I like to let my band play. I don’t put a lot of restrictions on them, so as to let their personalities become part of my music,” Cerra said. “The more free they are to create, the more interested they are in the music, the more life the music has.”
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As featured on his current “A Sliver of the Moon” album, Cerra’s songs have plenty of vigor, and he works with a broad palette that allows him to convey a full spectrum of emotion. It’s an ability that he’s developed over a life centered around music.
“I grew up in Syracuse, New York. I was pulled into music by my love for it,” Cerra said.
“Rock ‘n’ roll when I was a kid was very saxophone heavy. Springsteen, Bob Seger, Supertramp, all these bands and many more utilized saxophones or horns. Then I was led to the older artists like Ray Charles, Louis Jordan through the jazz my mom would listen to. There [was] a Sunday evening radio show called “Just Jazz” a great mix of contemporary jazz like Grover Washington, Dave Sanborn, Tom Scott and older cats like Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson and my favorite still, Cannonball Adderley. These were very instrumental times in my development.”
Adept at keyboards but primarily a saxophonist, Cerra made his bones with the talented bluesman Lucky Peterson, and quickly graduated to steady work as an in-demand sideman (he currently spends most of his time touring with blues-rock star Joe Bonamassa). “My first road gig with a recording artist was with Lucky. I also toured with Bobby Bland and Little Milton, Johnny Adams, Al Green and a host of other soul and blues artists. I lived in great music cities like Memphis, Nashville, Chicago and have called L.A. home for over 15 years.
“Memphis was where I matured as a fan of music, and where I began to develop a lot of who I am and who I want to become,” Cerra said. “It’s a soulful, hard-working city with a deep musical history. I was in a situation where I was allowed to back up many legends and then go on to do touring dates with them as well. It was great to play with the many older musicians I was fortunate to gig and hang with and soak up some of their knowledge. Then I started traveling back and forth to New Orleans and got exposed to a lot of great musicians and music.”
Cerra has squandered very little of that knowledge, and his particular brand of contemporary rhythm & blues is an engaging one that is loaded with color, creativity and atmosphere. From the taut, syncopated sizzle of “On My Way Home” to the shadowy, lowdown misery of the harrowing “Junkie’s Lament,” his persuasive tale telling and groove-centric arrangements are highly appealing.
Cerra, who will have a new full-length release available in March, deftly fuses many influences together. “My sound is a mix of many styles that touch and move me, it’s a sum of many influences,” he said. “Blues is the most prominent. Soul music, funk, jazz and even country music often find their way into it, but I try to have a strong blues foundation in all my original music. It’s the common thread for many genres.”
When Cerra and his band take the stage, it’s always a flashpoint for spontaneous R&B combustion.
“I try to give the guys who play with me all the freedom I can, to create in real time,” Cerra said. “It’s very much an improviser’s approach to band leading. I don’t like to rehearse a lot either. I have songs which are very stylistically written, so I ask the guys to approach them with their own voice. What I won’t tolerate is someone not willing to take chances. Safe players are no fun for me.”
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Who: Paulie Cerra
Where: Joe’s Great American Bar & Grill, 4311 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank
When: Sunday, Jan. 31, 8 p.m.
Cost: Free
More info: (818) 729-0805, joesgreatbar.com
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JONNY WHITESIDE is a veteran music journalist based in Burbank and author of “Ramblin’ Rose: the Life & Career of Rose Maddox” and “Cry: the Johnnie Ray Story.”