SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Blues Project will be celebrating its first new album in 42 years, entitled Evolution, with a performance at Caffe Lena on Oct. 30.
The Blues Project was formed in Greenwich Village in the mid-’60s by guitarist Danny Kalb (who had played sessions for various Elektra folk and folk-rock albums), Steve Katz (a guitarist with Elektra’s Even Dozen Jug Band), flutist/bassist Andy Kulberg, drummer Roy Blumenfeld, and singer Tommy Flanders. Al Kooper, in his early twenties a seasoned vet of rock sessions, joined after sitting in on the band’s Columbia Records audition, although they ended up signing to Verve, an MGM subsidiary.
After the release of their debut live album, the band recorded their second album Projections in the fall of 1966. Kooper and Katz soon left the band and in 1968 joined forces to form jazz-rock icons Blood, Sweat & Tears. Katz also went on to produce Lou Reed’s live Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal LP, as well as its studio follow-up Sally Can’t Dance.
The Blues Project, with a modified line-up, reformed briefly in the early 1970s, releasing three further albums: 1971’s Lazarus, 1972’s Blues Project, and 1973’s The Original Blues Project Reunion in Central Park.
Original members Roy Blumenfeld (drums/vocals) and guitarist/vocalist Steve Katz reunited in 2021 and lead a powerful new lineup that also includes Chris Morrison on lead guitar, Scott Petito on bass, and Ken Clark on keyboards and vocals.
For ticket info, go to: caffelena.org.
