PURPLE PIANO: A CELEBRATION OF PRINCE at Reynolds Performance Hall
Marshall Charloff had us partying like it was 1999 Friday, January 20, at Reynolds Performance Hall…
Grammy-Winning Blues-Rock Guitarist MICKI FREE Unleashes Incendiary New Album, “Turquoise Blue”
Set for February 4, 2022, Release on Dark Idol Music Label
Heralded by Carlos Santana and Billy Gibbons, among many others, Grammy-winning blues-rock guitarist Micki Free announces a February 4, 2022, release date for his new album, “Turquoise Blue“, on the Dark Idol Music label, distributed by Burnside Distribution / The Orchard / Sony. Free’s mastery of tone is showcased on the new disc’s 13 originals, plus a scintillating cover of Jimi Hendrix’s classic “All Along the Watchtower.” The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Ken Riley at Rio Grande Studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Special guests on Turquoise Blue include Gary Clark Jr., Steve Stevens, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Cindy Blackman Santana. Free teases the album’s release with his debut single, “Bye 2020,” on November 12, featuring additional guitar pyrotechnics from long-time Billy Idol six-stringer Steve Stevens.
“I wrote Turquoise Blue over the period of time when Covid first broke out and we were advised to remain at home,” Free recalls. “Interacting with my peers was just not an option. The songs are a direct testament of how I felt during that crazy time. Take my song, ‘Bye 2020;’ it tells exactly how I felt that year, with the dying, the masks, the quarantine, the protests, the fake news, the misinformation…. I just wanted to say, ‘Bye 2020!’ I enlisted my good buddy Steve Stevens from Billy Idol to lay down the first guitar solo and I did the second solo.
“I get my mojo from the classic greats—the masters of blues-rock and even classic rock,” Micki Free declares, “but everything I play comes from my own heart, and with Turquoise Blue, I feel like I’m really getting to the core of what I do in a way I hope people will connect with, because making music is about a connection so strong that it transcends language.”
Tracks:
1. Bye 2020- Steve Stevens 1st guitar solo / Micki Free 2nd guitar solo
2. Low Ridin’420
3.World on Fire – Cindy Blackman-Santana drums; Andy Vargas lead vocal; Karl Perazzo percussions; Micki Free all guitars
4. Heavy Mercy
5.Judicator Blues – Christone “Kingfish” Ingram 1st guitar solo / Micki Free 2nd guitar solo
6.Spring Fever
7.Come Home Big Mama
8.Invitation Love
9. Woman – Gary Clark Jr. 1st guitar solo / Micki Free 2nd guitar solo
10. All Along the Watchtower – Micki Free – all guitars
11. My Big Regret – Steve Stevens nylon guitar solo
12.Heaven or Heroin
13.Ring of Fire
14. Blue Memories
Free’s resume reads like an almost-mythical backstory to a movie: a protégé and guitar-slinging peer of KISS’s Gene Simmons, Prince, Billy Gibbons, Carlos Santana, and Cheap Trick’s Rick Neilson; glorified in a popular Chappelle’s Show episode of “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories,” as part of Prince’s team in a now-legendary basketball game. A featured member of R&B hitmakers Shalamar, he scored a top 20 hit with “Dancin’ in the Streets” and won a Grammy in 1985 for the song, “Don’t Get Stopped in Beverly Hills,” from the Beverly Hills Cop film soundtrack.
Free was born in West Texas of mixed blood Cherokee/Comanche Native American and Irish descent. Soon after, his family relocated to Germany, where his father was stationed as a sergeant in the Army. It was there at age 12 that an older sister took him to see Jimi Hendrix. “Jimi just blew my mind,” Free recalls. “He came out dressed like a gypsy with scarves and a flowing, psychedelic shirt, and his guitar was the most incredible thing I’d ever heard. From that moment on, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.”
After his family moved to Illinois, Free formed his first rock band, Smokehouse. When Smokehouse opened a concert bill that included the group KISS, Gene Simmons, himself, walked up to Free as his band was coming offstage and declared him “a star.” By that time, Free, had already developed a flair for rock ‘n’ roll fashion and the dynamic stage presence that’s one of his trademarks. Free was 19 years old when Simmons became his first manager. Since then, he’s been in the whirlwind of the music business, having recorded, written songs, and played with Simmons, the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman, Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, Prince, Little Steven, Sam Moore, Cheap Trick, Billy Gibbons, Carlos Santana, and Jean Beauvior of The Plasmatics.
Free’s resume reads like an almost-mythical backstory to a movie: a protégé and guitar-slinging peer of KISS’s Gene Simmons, Prince, Billy Gibbons, Carlos Santana, and Cheap Trick’s Rick Neilson; glorified in a popular Chappelle’s Show episode of “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories,” as part of Prince’s team in a now-legendary basketball game. A featured member of R&B hitmakers Shalamar, he scored a top 20 hit with “Dancin’ in the Streets” and won a Grammy in 1985 for the song, “Don’t Get Stopped in Beverly Hills,” from the Beverly Hills Cop film soundtrack.
Free was born in West Texas of mixed blood Cherokee/Comanche Native American and Irish descent. Soon after, his family relocated to Germany, where his father was stationed as a sergeant in the Army. It was there at age 12 that an older sister took him to see Jimi Hendrix. “Jimi just blew my mind,” Free recalls. “He came out dressed like a gypsy with scarves and a flowing, psychedelic shirt, and his guitar was the most incredible thing I’d ever heard. From that moment on, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.”
After his family moved to Illinois, Free formed his first rock band, Smokehouse. When Smokehouse opened a concert bill that included the group KISS, Gene Simmons, himself, walked up to Free as his band was coming offstage and declared him “a star.” By that time, Free, had already developed a flair for rock ‘n’ roll fashion and the dynamic stage presence that’s one of his trademarks. Free was 19 years old when Simmons became his first manager. Since then, he’s been in the whirlwind of the music business, having recorded, written songs, and played with Simmons, the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman, Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, Prince, Little Steven, Sam Moore, Cheap Trick, Billy Gibbons, Carlos Santana, and Jean Beauvior of The Plasmatics.
Original article can be found here.
Bleeding Purple: Marshall Charloff’s Journey
When Prince passed away, there were millions of fans and devotees left in its wake. Among those left behind were a wide variety of fans from casual listeners with their Purple Rain shirts from Old Navy to the hardcore purists who had Shade of Umber in heavy rotation on their playlists. And in the same way that funk and disco had left traces of influence on the music world still to this day, Prince had created an undeniable sound that was lightning in a bottle.
It was a sound that thousands of bands over the years tried to recreate and some of which became tribute bands whose sole purpose was to honor his accomplishments. Some were painful to watch while others, even ones that were wallowing in mediocrity, made a respectable living simply by parroting Prince.
And then there was Marshall Charloff.
Marshall Charloff brought something that other performers did not have which was deep down undeniable talent. A flow when playing guitar, piano, or vocals that can only come with decades of experience. It’s the playing of guitar solos with ease and precision, tickling the ivories with an effortless flow, and singing with his own style without trying to mimic the master, but still with honor.
There are also some distinguishing elements in Marshall Charloff‘s history that qualify him for a “purple pass,” if not for the fact that Charloff was actually a part of the legendary 94 East sessions that featured a young Prince on guitar and vocals while Charloff played both piano and bass guitar.
Add to that Marshall and his band The Purple Xperience actively bend over backward to make sure that their performances are not only accurate but that they are also ordained by Prince‘s estate to stay within their good graces. Charloff also performed as Prince alongside renowned symphony orchestras that were acclaimed by Prince fanatics, even though they were fraught with challenges in a post-Prince world.
We’ve discussed and reviewed The Purple Xperience before, so we’ll avoid repeating ourselves. However, when the pandemic all but destroyed live band performances in 2020 and had claimed a good portion of 2021, there was a wide variety of alternative performances from intimate online shows to pared-down crowds.
This was when Marshall Charloff decided to do the unthinkable and put together a “Purple Piano” show that only showcased Marshall and a piano. It would be a vulnerable and potentially embarrassing scenario for most Prince performers. This is especially the case for performers who habitually hide behind crowd sing-alongs or rely on the other band members to cover or distract from their shortcomings. This was putting it all out there. Just Charloff and a piano. All eerily similar to Prince‘s final two performances in Atlanta, GA. Bold and brave.
As someone who witnessed both of Prince’s final performances, this is not a task to be taken lightly. I had doubts when Prince himself took on the challenge. It’s putting everything out there for all to see. There’s nowhere to hide. You can’t bury the bad notes behind a loud guitar solo or sing off-key. It’s the equivalent of playing naked.
So imagine my surprise witnessing Marshall’s Purple Piano performance and being blown away to the point where I actually preferred it to the full band shows. Maybe it was the intimacy of the spectacle. Quite possibly it was the fact that it served as a full-blown realization that Marshall Charloff is one incredibly talented dude who is about the closest we’ll get to a Prince concert. Someone who fully comprehends his alter-ego and properly pays tribute to it, but that also, while he will never be Prince, has massive talent behind all of the instruments he plays. He isn’t just playing a part, he is the part.
The thing that I respect the most about Marshall Charloff‘s purple journey is his commitment to that craft. There is a distinct separation between The Purple Xperience, the Purple Piano shows, and his own music. While he respects what Prince has done and does his best to replicate the moments with unmitigated attention to detail, his own music is vastly different. His cards aren’t all on the table for everyone to see.
His newest Unperfect album is full of slow to mid-tempo jams filled with falsetto bedroom bangers and drizzled with sparkling touches like percussive crunchy guitars (Amanda) and trips that breathe the spirit of early George Benson (HipNautic), but that still pays homage to his own musical cultivation that was Minneapolis (Minneapolis Sound) and is the closest you’ll get to a Prince track on the album. The album is very much not Prince, which is expected, but surprisingly and refreshingly is not.
The journey of Marshall Charloff is one that is fraught with successes that were hard-won and losses undeserved. The world should raise their glass to this man that understands that his Prince-ly craft is designed to pay homage to the greatest to ever do it, but at the same time deserves to have his own musical stylings be noticed. A styling that does not try to layer itself on top of the tribute shows, but to stand on its own with its very own merits.
The original article can be found on the Funktopia website.
Singer Brian Duprey heads up a new Rat Pack!
By David Spatz – January 20th, 2020
The Rat Pack is back.
Truth be told, they never really left.
Okay, the core of stars that formed the Rat Pack — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford — are all physically long gone.
But they left behind a treasure trove of memories, music, spontaneous comedy and anything else they could make up on the spot on the stage of the Copa Room, the legendary showroom at the old Sands casino in Las Vegas.
Although its core members were guys, the Rat Pack occasionally added unofficial “mascot members” like Shirley MacLaine, Juliet Prowse, Angie Dickinson and Marilyn Monroe.
Now, three ersatz Rat Packers – Frank, Dean and Sammy – are being joined by mascot Marilyn Monroe in a weekly show titled “The Rat Pack – Back in Town.”
The show is presented 4 p.m. Sundays through April in the 2,200-seat Tropicana Showroom.
“It’s been so many years since a ‘Rat Pack’ show has been done (in Atlantic City),” says Allen Valentine, the magician-turned-producer who’s been crafting casino production shows for three decades.
“I think the last one (in Atlantic City) was at the Sands in the early 1990s, and it just felt right (to do it now),” Valentine says.
Valentine describes the music of Sinatra, Martin and Davis as “iconic” and “timeless.” He says it hits all the right notes for the perfect casino show crafted for an older crowd.
“It’s got powerful songs that speak to you emotionally, it’s really fun and it’s got a little bit of sex appeal with some of our dancers … and of course Marilyn (Monroe, for whom Sinatra carried an unrequited torch),” he explains. “It hits all those marks and it’s just an elegant, feel-good show.”
If there was a top dog among the original Rat Packers, it was obviously Sinatra. In “The Rat Pack – Back in Town,” that role is sung and played by Brian Duprey, who was 13-years-old and going through puberty when his voice began to change.
“My mom had a cassette or something on, and I was singing to (Sinatra) and my mom ran into the room and said, ‘Oh my God, you sound like Frank Sinatra,’” Duprey remembers. “I was baffled, because I wasn’t a singer. I was just singing along and imitating him and it just kind of stuck because I had that baritone voice. It kind of fit me like a glove.”
Still, the fact that he sounded like one of the world’s greatest entertainers wasn’t enough for him to change his career plans. He was always fascinated and drawn to the world of business.
He earned a business degree in college and eventually went to work for a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company.
“That’s when I decided I didn’t like that lifestyle of working for a company and doing the 9-to-5 thing,” he says, “It just didn’t fit me.”
It took the tragedy of 9-11 for Duprey, 45, to realize life was short and if he was ever going to make a major move, that was the time to do it.
So he moved to Las Vegas, took singing lessons and gradually began working the types of gigs that helped him climb the ladder to eventually land the Sinatra role in the long-running, look-and-sound-alike revue “Legends In Concert.”
It was during those years when he first played Atlantic City. With a 13-year run, “Legends” was (and still is) the longest-running production show in Atlantic City casino history.
Duprey, whose wife, Jamie, performs in the “Rat Pack” show as Marilyn Monroe, has finally discovered a balance in his professional life. He agrees that making a major career move like he did at age 28 was something of a risk. But he needed to discover what his true calling was.
Turns out show business isn’t such a bad gig after all.
“I like producing, directing, acting and singing. I like all sides of the entertainment business, but I still like (the) business (world),” he says. “I wouldn’t mind owning a spa or a gym one day. I like dabbling in many different areas, so whatever is making me excited to get up every day and be singing or owning my own business, I’m all for that.”
As he’s done in the past with production shows at Borgata and Hard Rock – plus major casinos outside Atlantic City – Valentine’s show is a one-and-done gig each week.
That presents a series of challenges, including how to make sure all the cast members – some of whom are scattered around the country – make it to Atlantic City by 4 p.m. Sunday to do a 90-minute show and then catch the next plane, train or automobile out of town.
“The (casino) market has changed over the years. When I first started 30 years ago producing shows in Atlantic City, we had a very healthy bus program. We had Greyhound busses lined up and down Pacific Avenue,” he says. “But that’s changed. Casinos can’t (financially) support production shows that run five nights a week any more.”
However, doing the shows on either side of the weekend – like Thursday at Borgata, or later Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock, where he’s currently producing a show, the casinos can leave their Friday and Saturday nights open for headliners.
They’re able to get more bang for their marketing buck. And it’s not just in Atlantic City. This is happening at MGM National Harbor (near Washington, D.C.), Biloxi, Ms. and Twin River casino (in Rhode Island), all places where his company, Elite Casino Marketing, is presenting shows.
“It’s the new trend for production shows,” Valentine says.
Original article @ www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Johnny & June Forever: Sweetwater Music Hall
Chemistry is an interesting thing. There are those moments in time, like when you are watching some musical act on the stage, where you discover that you can’t take your eyes off the music makers before you. You are mesmerized by their presence as you can literally see the energy flowing through those before you as they produce sounds that positively affect your brain. In the case of Bay Area musicians Danny Uzilevsky and Essence Goldman, the energy you may witness between them is sizzling, palpable and truly magical. With the duo’s newest venture, Johnny & June Forever, Uzilevsky and Goldman embody the music created by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, but they do it in a way that is not about “doing covers” or even “paying tribute”, but about fully making the music their own by channeling the forces that Cash and Carter used themselves in performing songs.
Goldman and Uzilevsky came together when Goldman recorded her latest album in 2018 at Uzilevsky’s studio, Allegiant Records in San Anslemo, CA. A sparking fire was ignited around shared lyrics and chords, a magnetic energy acknowledged, and the two began a magical musical journey with the first notes sung in harmony. Both Goldman and Uzilevsky are incredible songwriters in their own right, but when a few Cash/Carter songs were sung, the pair knew they hit on something great and decided to embark on bringing those old school country songs to life with their project Johnny & June Forever: The Greatest Love Story Ever Sung.
With fate and luck being on their side, the duo was asked to perform and premier their act at Sweetwater Music Hall in conjunction with the Mill Valley Film Festival’s release of the documentary “The Gift: The Journey Of Johnny Cash”. The sold-out show was alive with the energy and anticipation of a crowd excited to hear many well-loved songs. The set was opened with “I Walk The Line”, just Uzilevsky singing with his strong and deep voice while playing off the amazing (and dapper) band, drummer JT John (Danny Montana & The Bar Association), bassist Joe Kyle Jr. (Koolerator, Howell Devine) and guitarist Phillip Milner (Jenny Kerr Band). Enter the beauty that is Essence Goldman, all five feet of her, with an electric smile and a high and clear voice that sends shivers up your spine. It was then that we became aware of the special vibe between the two as they locked into the songs and the band then took off without a look back into the dust. The band fired up songs such as “Long Legged Guitar Pickin’ Man”, “Don’t Take Your Guns To Town”, the Hank Williams tune “Lovesick Blues”, “Ring Of Fire”, “It Ain’t Me Babe” as well as Loretta Lynn’s “You’re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly”. Essence’s solo numbers the June Carter penned “Ring Of Fire” and Carter Family classics “Keep On The Sunny Side” and “Wildwood Flower” were (insert adjective), and Jenny Kerr joining the band on banjo for “Wildwood Flower” was a unexpected highlight.
Uzilevsky and Goldman do their best to not take on the personas of Carter and Cash, but their dynamic stage presence definitely reminds us of the playfulness and enjoyment the country King & Queen had on stage during their heyday. With Goldman showcasing various vintage dresses and Uzilevsky with his slicked-back pompadour and rockabilly style, the pair invoked the force of Carter and Cash without camp and pretense. The talent that these two have honed with each of their long and expansive musical careers is apparent as they blend their own songs and styles in with their act. The whole experience of Johnny & June Forever is more than just a showplace for Carter/Cash songs; it’s a golden carriage for two incredible and shining musicians to make a mark on the musical scene in the Bay Area with panache and style.
Thank you Carolyn McCoy – Click here for original article!
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Damage Inc – Metallica Tribute
We’d like to welcome DAMAGE Inc – Southern California’s Tribute to Metallica 
to the Fuzion Family!
