Sugar Ray Norcia has been around the music scene long enough to know what he wants. Since the early seventies, the veteran bluesman could be found anywhere from backing up blues greats like Otis Rush and Joe Turner to fronting his own band Sugar Ray & The Bluetones, which featured guitarist extraordinaire Ronnie Earl. In 1991 he became the lead singer for Rhode Island’s Roomful of Blues. The band went on to record four critically acclaimed albums with Norcia as lead vocalist. "Sweet and Swingin’" represents his first solo effort after fronting the world-renowned Roomful for the past six years. And it’s a representation of the music and the album that he’s always wanted to do his whole career.

Although in the past Ray has done his share of writing, this disc is comprised of all cover tunes. This is a collection of songs with influences ranging from big band to swing to jazz to blues. The variation from song to song demonstrates a wide variety of Ray’s influences. Not many vocalists would attempt the challenge of covering Jimmy Rogers to Percy Mayfield to Hank Williams, but Sugar Ray does these influences justice. From the big band sound of the opening Sinatra-like cut "Jack She’s On The Ball" to the lonely blues of Rogers’ "Money, Marbles, and Chalk", Sugar Ray demonstrates why he’s considered to be one of the best in the business. Songs like "You Better Move On" and "Tomorrow Night" bring the listener right back to the romantic fifties. Norcia stretches the boundaries a little with his versions of Hank Williams’ "My Sweet Love Ain’t Around" and Pee Wee Crayton’s "You Better Change Your Way of Loving." And the Roomful sound is still very evident on tracks like "It’s A Low Down Dirty Shame." Guitarist Kid Bangham (another Bluetones alumni) really digs into Willie Dixon’s "Love, Life, And Money", my personal favorite track on this disc.

- Don Sikorski