American Showplace Music artist: Alexis P Suter Band - All For Loving You - New Release Review

I just received the newest release (June 17, 2016), All For Loving You, from Alexis P Suter and it's dynamite! Opening with Talk To Myself, Suter kicks it square in the face with a heavy swagger on lead vocal and Jimmy Bennett on guitar. A strong slide undertone throughout gives the track a cool bluesy feel. R&B track, Can't Find A Reason is a grand showcase for how powerful a singer Suter is and Bennett lays in a simple guitar solo backed by John Ginty on organ, Ray Grappone on drums and Peter Bennett on bass. Excellent! Slow blues number, Another Place and Time, is opened by an inviting guitar intro by Jimmy and Suter really grabs it up tight. Given the space, Jimmy takes his guitar for a soulful walk adding to a very strong track. Very nice. Title track, All For Loving You, is a radio track with a smooth melody. A driving drum line by Grappone, slide work from Jimmy and Ginty's organ work make this a magical formula. Shuffle track, Living In The World, opens with a clean guitar line from Jimmy. Suter has such a strong voice, balanced by Ginty on organ and Grappone on drums, this track rocks it southern style. Soulful ballad, Fool For You, is another pure showcase for Suter's vocal with rich organ work by Ginty and clean guitar riffs by Jimmy. Very nice. Don't Ya' Tell is a rockin' boogie with super blues rock style guitar riffs from Jimmy, hot backing vocal by Vicki Bell and slashing drum work from Grappone. Excellent! So Long has a heavy bottom with some funk, compliments of Peter and Grappone and Jimmy really lets the dog off the leash on this one. Smokin! Every Shut Eye is a hot Latin influenced blues number with a hot beat. Jimmy takes a freewheeling run over Grappone's relentless rhythm and Ginty takes a cool run of his own. Suter's vocals are hot and steamy. Wrapping the release is an inspirational rearrangement of the Beatles classic, Let It Be. Ginty's organ work creates nice tension, Jimmy adding gravelly guitar riffs and Suter taking the track in a track not expected... with an almost gospel feel! This is an excellent closer to a very strong release.



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American Showcase Music artist: The Alexis P Suter Band - Love The Way You Roll - New Release Review

I just received the newest release (August 12, 2014), Love The Way You Roll, from The Alexis P Suter Band and it's literally off the hook! I have to admit I have not had the pleasure earlier but my pal Stilladog had recommended I check this band out and he sure was right! Opening with Nuthin' In The World, a cocky blues rocker with a lot of strut, Suter introduces you to her unique vocal style and it's terrific. Backed by Vicki Bell on vocal, Ray Grappone on drums and Peter Bennett on bass this is a cool rocker with stinging guitar work from Jimmy Bennett. 25 Years has a real swagger and Suter again just blows you back in your chair with her voice. Bennett rips it up pretty good on guitar and Grappone holds tight on drums. Anything is a beautiful soul track and a brilliant showcase for Suter's vocal style. Excellent key man John Ginty adds rich B3 overtones to this track and Bennett's guitar tones are rich and "Super" like. Excellent! Big Mama is a strong Texas style boogie with driving guitar rhythms and lead. Bennett whips out the slide on this one and smoke flies! Slide fans...here it is! Cool track. Title track, Love The Way You Roll, has a swampy Bo Diddley feel with lead NO drum march feel. Again Bennett steps up with his slide and grinds it out, even blending in a little Morganfield tribute. Raw and Bluesy! Gonna' Love You has a real somber, slinky feel with the Bennetts on bass and guitar setting the pace. Suter has a rich, relentless voice and this track is really hot! A great groove with contemporary styling and hot guitar riffs... how can you miss? Excellent... possibly my favorite track on the release. Waiting takes a step back with an easy approach and a rhythm that is reminiscent of Bill Withers' Use Me. This track has great style and a embracing feel. Ginty on electric piano and B3 adds a nice middle adding to the spotlight on Suters' exceptional voice. On Big Mama's You Don't Move Me No More, a Latin percussion keeps the track on the low down but Jimmy Bennett lays down a really slick jazz guitar solo for a cool bridge. This track is really nicely done and a light feel breaking up the intensity of most of the release. It Ain't Over has a R&B feel and with vocal duet with Vicki Bell this is a hot radio track. Hang On opens with a cool bass riff from Peter Bennett. Falling into the background, the track builds on the cool funk and again Suter and Bell pair up on vocals with a real bouncer. This is one of those tracks that is bound to move you round in your seat. A loose guitar solo from Jimmy Bennett on the track and strong bass riffs from Peter Bennett stand out on this track. Another solid ballad, Them Days, finds Suter holding back on the amplitude of her vocals allowing a different texture emerge. Accompanied mostly by Ginty and complimented by a clean solo from Jimmy Bennett, this is another track that could find universal airplay. The release concludes with a really hot cover of Slim Harpo's Shake Your Hips. Suter was born to sing this track and Bennett is pushing her all the way with cool grinding guitar riffs. Vocal compliments by Bell and minimal bass and drums make this track a particularly effective boogie. Excellent!

If you haven't concluded from the review, I really like this release and recommended it for anyone who this even sounds remotely interesting to! All I want to know is "When is she coming to town!" 

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

 

Where You Gonna Be When the Morning Comes - The Alexis P. Suter Band with Garth Hudson

When the great Bluesman B.B. King first heard Alexis P. Suter sing a few years ago, he was visibly impressed – and said so after her opening set. Shaking his head in wonder in his characteristic way, he remarked: “It’s a rare thing to share the stage with great talent like that young lady.”

Considering the caliber of performers who appear on the same bill as King, that’s a heady compliment. And she has earned similar accolades from other well-known musicians and performers, including Levon Helm of The Band and Dan Akroyd, better known in the Blues world as Elwood Blues, who called her “America’s number one contender for the new Queen of the Blues.”

A true vocal phenomenon, bass/baritone powerhouse Suter and her band began wowing audiences in the northeast 6 years ago as regular performers at Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Sessions in Woodstock, NY. "She is one of those wonderful spirits, she's got her arms around you, you can feel that,” Helm has said.

Since then, they have been in demand at North American festivals including, just in the past summer: The Toronto Waterfront Blues Festival, The Cincinnati Blues Festival, Floydfest in Floyd, VA, The Kitchener Blues Festival in Kitchener, Ontario, The Vermont Blues Festival, The Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival in Salmon Arm, British Columbia and The Columbia Blues Festival in Columbia, SC. During the fall of 2009, the band toured Italy as part of Blues Al Femminile. In 2009, the band was showcased at New York City’s River and Blues concert series and at the New York State Blues Festival, where Dan Aykroyd joined them onstage for “Got My Mojo Workin’.”

Along with Levon Helm’s band, the Alexis P. Suter Band has played sold-outs shows at the Beacon Theater in New York City, Bethel Woods Center For The Arts and Central Park Summerstage. The band has also appeared on Imus in the Morning. At Floydfest this summer, where they played on the same day as the Levon Helm Band, Suter was invited up to sing on The Weight, which usually closes Helm’s show.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Suter came from a musical family. Her mother was a music teacher and singer who worked with Harry Belafonte, Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and The Hall Johnson Choir. Early on, her daughter sang in recitals and Gospel plays and learned the power of her voice. In the early 90’s, Suter became a staple of underground garage music and the first African American woman signed to Sony-Epic (Japan). Her acclaimed song “Slam Me Baby” made her an underground star, while she also still sang with New York’s Illumination Gospel Choir. Her debut CD, Shuga Fix on Hipbone Records was well-received by the music community and played on the radio nationwide. The band also released a CD/DVD recorded Live at The Midnight Ramble, and last year’s record Just Another Fool.

Suter is poised to release her latest – Two Sides – in April. Suter said the record “has a lot of different styles – blues, soul and other roots music. It’s mostly original songs and a few covers.” One of the covers is her version of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” which Suter sang at last New Year’s Eve’s Midnite Ramble in Woodstock, where people are still talking about it. More recently, Suter and her band previewed some of the new songs at The Turning Point in Piermont, NY where the entire kitchen staff came out and lined the hallway to hear her sing.

In addition to her voice, Suter’s real secret weapon is her top-notch band. At every show, audiences show their whistling, cheering appreciation for drummer Ray Grappone’s funky beats and guitarist Jimmy Bennett and keyboard man Benny Harrison’s high-flying solos. The rest of the band –Peter Bennett on bass, and gorgeous singers Vicki Bell and Linda Pino –have also added to the firepower of this exciting band that has captured the attention of some of the best players around. Along with other hot New York blues players, Suter is featured on the cover of the February/March issue of Big City Rhythm and Blues magazine. The sky’s the limit for The Alexis P. Suter Band!
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