the same thing. After that he moved over to the drums and played until everything there was just right. The rest of the band was having dinner at the time. They knew Johnny could handle the sound check by himself. Of course during the show he sang and played the harp as well. My point? Johnny MacLeod is one talented musician!
Johnny & The East Coast Rockers are a swing blues band. That’s what they play and they are excellent at it. They have a knack for getting the dance floor full half way through their first song (No easy feat). They’ve been playing this kind of music long before the current swing craze hit. This is a band that has been around for some time now. This show was recorded back on July 28th, 1998 at Sandy’s Light House at Misquamicut Beach and it successfully captures the band at their glorious best. "Live and Swingin’" swings harder than Tiger Woods on a par 5.
Besides Johnny, the East Coast Rockers are made up of Bob Burt on drums, Glenn Hardy on piano, Jim Hunter on upright bass, Scott Gordley on sax, and Rob Funk on slide trombone. They open with the appropriate "House Of Blue Lights." Hardy’s rollicking piano is the first instrument you hear. Soon the horn section kicks in, Johnny starts singing, and you can visualize the big old dance floor filling up.
From there things move along with a nice mix of cover songs, instrumentals, and original material. The Rockers have two previous discs out and from their 1996 release "Blues On My Side" they play the MacLeod original "Fine Rockin’ Mama." Surprisingly no songs were played from their acclaimed 1997 release "Rock Em’ Dead All Night."
Highlights include a nice understated instrumental written by Ronnie Earl called "Stickin." This tune is followed by another instrumental called "East Coast Boogie." This is an original tune that starts, like so many other tunes on the disc, with Hardy’s boogie woogie piano. Yet another instrumental, a MacLeod original called "Lost In The Blues," moves away from the swing sound to hard blues. Johnny nails this one.
Popular covers include the Felicie Moore classic "Caldonia." Here Johnny comes dangerously close to sounding like Little Richard! Two T-Bone Walker songs covered as well. There’s an especially nice version of the popular "T-Bone Shuffle," a song that fits right in to the style of music the East Coast Rockers play. The band cools out nicely with an extended version of John Lee Hooker’s "I Love You Baby."
Johnny & The East Coast Rockers have the talent, charisma, and experience to take the next step, touring nationally and landing with a major label. This style of music is timeless. As long as couples want to go out on weekends and dance, Johnny & The East Coast Rockers will always have an audience.
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