May 26, 2022

Al Copley & The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Good Understanding (1993)

► The album

Copley and the fabulous roomful of birds
Blues and jazz pianist Al Copley (known to have been the Original Blues Brothers piano player and arranger) has put out a fine album, that might be considered as "minor" which would be an unforgettable mistake.

He teamed again with his old "compadre" guitarist Duke Robillard, with whom he had co-founded the legendary Roomful of Blues band in 1967, and members of an other famous group from Texas, The Fabulous Thunderbirds : harmonicist Kim Wilson (co-founder of TFT with Jimmie Vaughan in 1974), drummer Fran Christina and bassist Preston Hubbard, both former members of ROB also before joining TFT.

Duke Robillard
A line-up of such quality couldn't produce any ordinary work, even if the album was recorded in a one-night impromptu session in Holland while Copley and TFT were both touring Europe. With additional help from Jose Avila on bongos and Vinzenz Kummer on upright bass on two tracks, this gangs of blues veterans rolls down some tasty piano-driven blues with a serious twist of New Orleans style.

Kim Wilson with Bob Dylan
Jump, romping boogies, slower jazzy blues… Copley, who is equally an appealing blues singer, was smart enough to leave sufficient space for his accomplices to express their talents. Both Wilson on harmonica and Robillard on guitar are excellent in their tasteful interventions, backed by the Hubbard-Christina pair providing guaranteed clockwork rhythmic foundations.

Still Copley's piano dominates. Alternating fast rocking tracks with lower tempo ones, Copley opens up by hammering down his keyboard on the late Professor Longhair's instrumental jumping killer "Doin' It" straight from New Orleans setting up the mood with the band in good hot rocking order behind him, featuring exotic bongo work from Avila, great jazzy solo licks from Robillard and breathless harmonica from Wilson. To catch back their breath, the gang goes through a long slower and jazzier blues ballad, Copley's own composition "Sunshine Moonlight", before switching again to jumping blues on "Another Woman" (another Copley's original).

Amos Millburn's "Bad Bad Whiskey" comes next, a slow-tempo swinging number sung by Copley in an appropriate kind of staggering manner. To sober up the band rushes through a next Copley's original a la Fats Domino, the notable instrumental piano boogie "Run Riot (Rog's Romp)". The pace slows down again with two tracks : the pounding "What Do I Do ?", a Copley's composition again, and the soulful "A Man And The Blues", written by the obscure George Guy, superbly sung by Copley.

The following "Love Will Heal Me Too", the last of Copley's five originals, has an obvious Dr John's lazy jazzy twist. The album closes on Willie Dixon's "Good Understanding", a Chicago blues which gave the album its title and is leaving large spaces to Wilson and Robillard.

A blues dish to savor due the good understanding between the fine musicians who cooked it... ■

Interviews
● On The Caswell Cooke Show, 2020 (some sound problems) : https://youtu.be/LBnAjQxlUog
● On "Food For Thought", 2021 (skip the first uninteresting 12"00  + poor sound) : https://youtu.be/VfICiKIuWLU

Live videos
► Al Copley
● With Lino Patruno's European Jazz Stars, Lugano (Switzerland), 1986 : https://youtu.be/ZCvLqxKE32g
● With drummer George Green, Internationale Jazzwoche Burghausen, Wackerhalle (Germany), 1988 : https://youtu.be/oPhgbOxD2WY
● Montreux Jazz Festival, 1993 : https://youtu.be/7f9CAgdwxsg
● Al Copley Trio, Festival de Montauban (France), 2008 : https://youtu.be/FL3luUkW1Ss
● At Le Moulin de Santeny (France), 2010 :
● The Al Copley Band, Blues on the Beach, Westerly (Rhode Island), 2010 :
● At The Reigen, Vienna (Austria), 2011 : https://youtu.be/_LbbFbyZNHU
● At The Triad, NYC :
● On "Gramma's Attic", 2016 : https://youtu.be/hOSuNtCr3k
● With The Cartells and Friends, 2020 : https://youtu.be/rVrocTm-FIo
● With Rich Lataille and Greg Piccolo, original members of Roomful of Blues and now key members of The Founders, 2021 : https://youtu.be/-AQwaMhlXuk

► Roomful of Blues
● Reunion Show, Knickerbocker Cafe, Westerly (Rhode Island), 2016 (Duke Robillard, Greg Piccolo, Al Copley, Rich Lataille, Doug James, Tony Lamb) : https://youtu.be/_IA8C9sPx-o
● At Narrows Center for the Arts, 2021 : https://youtu.be/NORJbp0CkCo

● A must : Earl King & Roomful of Blues, Montreux Jazz Festival, 1987, with Earl King (guitar & vocal), Porky Cohen (trombone), Rich Lataille (alto sax), Greg Piccolo (tenor sax), Doug James (baritone sax), Bob Enos (trumpet), Ronnie Earl (guitar), Paul Tomasello (bass), Junior Branthey (piano), John Rossi (drums) : https://youtu.be/rHz1z3rH1fY

► The Fabulous Thunderbirds
● Kim Wilson and TFT, The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton (Florida), 2022 : https://youtu.be/gt1QflYxFnU 
● TFT live in London, 1985 (Kim Wilson : vocal, harmonica - Jimmie Vaughan : guitar - Preston Hubbard : bass - Fran Christina : drums) : https://youtu.be/or5VMZR5R
                                                Kim Wilson & Buddy Guy ►

► Duke Robillard
● Rhythm and Roots Festival, Charlestown (Rhode Island) : https://youtu.be/UcZrhqDe0NY
● Blues in June, Norman (Oklahoma), 2013 : https://youtu.be/stGX-Fb7jnI





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