Andy Aledort and the Groove Kings

Andy Aledort and the Groove Kings - Live at North Star 2009 - 2009 - World's Finest Records

"Andy Aledort can make his guitar scream and cry, and swing in a unique and stunning blues rock style. He's been my new favorite guitarist for a long time now." ~ Joe Satriani

My how times change. If this was the 70's, a major label such as Capricorn would have released Andy Aledort and the Groove King's "Live at North Star 2009." It would have spent a year on the Billboard album charts and gone multi-platinum. Unfortunately, blues rock has fallen out of favor. So much the worse for us. I can listen to this record over and over and find new meaning with each hearing. Maybe that's because Andy Aledort teaches rock stars such as Joe Perry of Aerosmith how to play the blues. Maybe because he plays guitar in Dickie Betts (of Allman Brothers fame) band. Maybe because he replaced Jimi Hendrix in The Band of Gypsies for a Japanese Tour. Or maybe because he's been the senior editor of Guitar World Magazine for seemingly forever. No matter what the reason, "Live at North Star 2009" captures Aledort at the peak of his vocal, instrumental, and improvisational powers. He proves himself a "Master of the Stratocaster." Aledort does it with the help of a transcendent group featuring Mike DiMeo (keyboards, vocals), Dennis Metzler (bass), and Vito Luizzi and Richard Rosch (drums). "Groove Kings" proves an apt name for this band. Solid and in the pocket. Andy Aledort sings lead in a burnished, deep baritone. Mike DiMeo joins him on harmonies and impassioned soul interjections, much like Lou Rawls did for Sam Cooke. The CD opens with a funky version of Freddie King's "Big Leg Woman." Aledort should be arrested for the way he slaps the crap out of his Strat! Mike Dimeo burns a hole in the ozone layer with his incendiary organ sound. I love when they trade riffs. "I Don't Need No Doctor" borrows the John Scofield/John Mayer arrangement and features Hendrix-like octave playing and a sensitive give and take solo with keyboardist Mike Dimeo. On B.B. King's Gambler's Blues, Aledort doubles his bass vocal with lead guitar, a very sexy effect. He then whips out his slide and demonstrates his prowess. I find it nearly impossible to select "highlights" from this album. But I can pick a favorite -- Aledort's original, "Right By Your Side." It sounds like a sixties soul ballad, something that Otis Redding could have performed. It opens with a beautiful Hendrix/Mayfield mini-chord solo. DiMeo and Aledort lay down killer vocals. Dramatic stops heighten the intensity of the mood. And then Aledort explodes in a Hendrix-like splattering of licks. Albert King's "Wrapped Up in Love Again" proves an apt vehicle for some very funky R&B styled riffs. Once again, I love the way DiMeo's bluesy vocals complement Aledort's deep voice. DiMeo shines with an electric piano solo that shaves the beat. On the album's other original, "Do You Have A Sister," Aledort's guitar rides the beat like a surfer riding a wave, sliding more and more notes into the groove until he just explodes. Through out the record, the drummers (one per cut) and bassist do an excellent job of both propelling and responding to the rhythms of the soloists. Andy Aledort performs like a trapeze artist with a net -- always willing to push that extra inch knowing that his band will catch him if he falls. Aspiring young musicians should immediately hop on-line and buy this CD. Then spend a year learning every lick! I put this record in the category of Al Kooper's "Super Session" (featuring Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills), The Allman Brothers "Live at The Fillmore East," and "Frampton Comes Alive." I can't give much higher praise than that. - by & Roger-Z © (03/12/10) © http://theworkingmusician.com/reviews/LiveAtNorthStar2009.html

ANDY ALEDORT & THE GROOVE KINGS – LIVE AT NORTH STAR 2009 is a sprawling, 70+ minute live document of intense improvisation and band interaction. "Live at North Star 2009" is a vivid representation of my band—Mike DiMeo (kybd., voc.), Dennis Metzler (bass), and Vito Luizzi and Richard Rosch (drums)--and offers some smoldering blues, blues/rock and intricate original material. I'm very, very happy with the way this record turned out, and I think you all will dig it, too. Recorded at one of our regular haunts, the beautiful club/restaurant NORTH STAR located in Pound Ridge, NY, "LIVE AT NORTH STAR 2009" is a great example of the kind of insanity the band and I venture into at every gig. The album includes covers of such classic blues tunes as Freddie King’s “Big Leg Woman,” Ray Charles’ “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” B.B. King’s “Gambler’s Blues,” Albert King’s “Wrapped Up in Love Again,” Albert Collins’ “Bending Like a Willow Tree,” and Little Walter’s “Last Night,” plus two original compositions, “Right by Your Side” and “Do You Have a Sister.” Check out the latest issue of GUITAR WORLD article, JUNE 2010: Feature article on “Live at North Star 2009!! Click here to read it © Andy Aledort © AndyAledort.com 2004 - 2009. All Rights Reserved http://www.andyaledort.com/

Excellent Live disc by this accomplished, seasoned "old-school" blues/rock axeslinger from New York who rocks the blues with style, class & authority. Featuring 8 tracks @ 71 minutes of first rate, authentic, retro-70s, blues-based heavy guitar riffage that digs deep on the extended six string jam theory. The man plays his ass off and TONE is his middle name, Aledort is the REAL deal. Along with having played many "Hendrix Tribute" gigs with Billy Cox and Buddy Miles and being a long-time editor @ Guitar World magazine further proves that Andy Aledort is a legit player who knows what time of day it is on the guitar. Highly recommended to people who dig serious Guitar Rock and to fans of Hendrix, Trower, Winter, SRV, Clapton & Bonamassa © 2010 & beyond - Grooveyard Records - All Rights Reserved

Great live album from the brilliant New York blues/rock guitar player and vocalist, Andy Aledort. For a day job Andy edits five renowned guitar magazines including Guitar World. His influences range from from the geat 1950s and 1960s masters, like Albert King, B.B. King, Little Walter, and Albert Collins to the more modern players like SRV, Robin Trower and Joe Bonamassa. This album contains mostly covers by artists including Leon Russell & Chuck Blackwell, Little Water, and Albert King. Andy has penned two great originals, "Right By Your Side", and "Do You Have A Sister". This is a great guitar album and whether you are into the more traditional electric side of the blues, or hard blues/rock, you should enjoy this album which is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Try and listen to Andy Aledort and the Groove King's "Put A Sock In It" album. Also check out Andy's playing on David Clayton-Thomas' "Blue Plate Special" album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: 2 x rar files: Pt.1 (Tracks 1-4) = 84.2 Mb, & Pt.2 (Tracks 5-8) = 79.2 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Big Leg Woman - Leon Russell & Chuck Blackwell
2. Right By Your Side - Andy Aledort
3. I Don't Need No Doctor - Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson and Jo Armstead
4. Gambler's Blues - B.B. King & Johnnie Pate
5. Wrapped Up In Love Again - Albert King
6. Bending Like A Willow Tree - Albert Collins
7. Last Night - Walter Jacobs (Little Walter)
8. Do You Have A Sister - Andy Aledort

MUSICIANS

Andy Aledort - Guitar, Vocals
Dennis Metzler - Bass
Mike DiMeo - Keyboards, Vocals
Richard Rosch - Drums
Vito Luizzi - Drums on Tracks 2 & 8

SHORT BIO

Andy Aledort has been a significant figure in the international music scene over the last 20 years. As a senior editor for the top guitar-oriented music magazines GUITAR WORLD, GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN, GUITAR EXTRA, GUITAR LEGENDS, and GUITAR WORLD ACOUSTIC, among others, his work is unsurpassed as a music transcriber, instructional columnist and journalist. He has authored over 200 books of guitar transcriptions as well as a series of guitar-related instructional books and videos/DVDs, all of which are distributed worldwide, for the leading music publishers Hal Leonard Corp., Warner Brothers Publishing and Cherry Lane Music. Aledort is a performing musician as well: along with leading his own ensembles in the New York/tri-state area, he is often tapped for high-profile appearances with artists such as Buddy Guy, Dickey Betts, and the Allman Brothers band. Over the last three years, he has also participated in a series of Jimi Hendrix Tribute concerts, most recently entailing a three-city tour of the west coast. In his April 1, 2004 review for ROLLING STONE, write Charles Cross wrote, “The real show-stopper came when veteran bluesman Buddy Guy, backed by guitarist Andy Aledort and the powerful rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton—a.k.a. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble—played a version of Muddy waters’ ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ that smoldered. It was the perfect homage to Hendrix.” Among the other artists that appeared on the bill with Aledort for the three shows were Carlos Santana, Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, and Hubert Sumlin, plus Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys rhythm section, bassist Billy Cox and drummer Mitch Mitchell. As a session player, Andy Aledort was called upon to recreate the Band Of Gypsys -era playing of Hendrix for recording sessions with the original Gypsys themselves, Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles, where Aledort was required to recreate note-for-note renditions of Hendrix’s incendiary live performances of “Machine Gun” and “Power of Soul” from the classic Band of Gypsys album. He performed with the Band of Gypsys at both the 2001 and 2002 Street Scene concerts in San Diego, CA, as part of two ambitious Tribute to Hendrix concerts featuring such guest guitarists as Andy Summers of the Police, Slash, Stephen Stills, Mick Taylor of Rolling Stones fame, Vernon Reid (Living Color) and others, as well as the big Jimi Hendrix 60th birthday bash at the EMP Museum, created by Microsoft’s Paul Allen, in November of 2002. In the summer of 2001, Aledort was tapped for session work with Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon, bass, and Chris Layton, drums), bandmates of Stevie Ray Vaughan, in order to recreate the guitar work of Stevie Ray, Buddy Guy, Albert King, Freddie King, and Johnny Winter. He also appears with Double Trouble on two Hot Licks instructional videos. Aledort has begun work on a series of Jimi Hendrix instructional videos (produced by the Jimi Hendrix Estate), starting with the release of the two-hour How to Play the Songs from Are You Experienced? video/DVD in 2000. He also has the Beginning Electric Blues Guitar video on the shelves, and has just released the B.B. King: Signature Licks instructional DVD; soon to follow are similar instructional videos/DVDs covering the playing styles of Albert King and jazz pioneer Charlie Christian. Aledort’s many instructional books include Jimi Hendrix: Signature Licks, Eric Clapton: Bluesman: Signature Licks and Blues/Rock Guitar Masters: Signatures Licks books, all published by the Hal Leonard Corporation. With his group the Groove Kings, Aledort released the self-produced Put A Sock In It CD in 1999 to rave reviews, such as: “I love it—it’s great!”—Johnny Winter; “Great guitar playing. Andy has his own distinct sound.”—Tommy Shannon; “Andy plays with great technique and soul.”—Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine); “Andy has the ability to combine diverse stylistic elements to emerge with a unique musical voice.” –Mike Stern (Miles Davis). The band is currently recording their second studio album. © AndyAledort.com 2004 - 2009. All Rights Reserved http://www.andyaledort.com/andy-aledort-bio.html