Pop Music Reviews : Keeping Faith With Roomful of Blues

If you think the roadhouse blues band has gone the way of the roadhouse, think again. Unlike other long-standing R&B; outfits that have refashioned themselves into funkified pop-groups (Tower of Power comes to mind), Roomful of Blues, the perennial party band from Providence, R.I., keeps the faith with its blend of boogie, bop and soul.

The nine-piece ensemble rolled into the Coach House Friday with a raunchy five-piece horn section, a cigar-smoking drummer and a harmonica-blowing singer sporting shades and an Edd (Kookie) Byrnes hair style. Though the lineup has gone through extensive changes over the years, the current band sounds as good as any of those on the available reissues that date back to the ‘70s.

The recent addition of doo-wop-styled singer Sugar Ray Norcia has moved the emphasis away from the group’s jazz-inspired image, evidenced here by a lack of the Ellington and Basie numbers that once graced its sets. Instead, the band concentrated on the roots of rock ‘n’ roll, bringing solid musicianship to such tunes as Junior Wells’ “Hoodoo Man” and Lee Diamond’s “Please Don’t Leave.”

Long-time member Greg Piccolo’s rough-and-tumble tenor sax (he also sang and played rhythm guitar) kept the joint jumping. He combined moments of shameless riffing on a single note with be-bop fired runs and, at one point, took time out to quote from “Surrey With the Fringe On Top.” Guitarist Chris Vachon stalked the stage while adding plaintive phrases, beat-minded chords or well-bent single notes.

Other stand-outs included baritone saxophonist Doug James, whose deep-throated sounds bumped along like a roadster on a gravel lane, and trombonist Carl Querfurth, whose blustery tones brought the impact of a shout chorus to his solos.

While ROB turned to the past for its successes, opening act Hammerhead Blue, a trio led by guitarist John Heussenstamm, looked to the future by injecting speed-metal riffs in its country-flavored sound.