The Cobalt Rhythm Kings
HOT . . . Like Red Pepper
© 2001 The Cobalt Rhythm Kings (634479465123)
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The deepest shade of blues -- tough, raging and tasty Chicago-style and jump blues from one of New Haven, Connecticut's best-kept musical secrets.
tracks
- 1 Juicy Fruit
- 2 Your Hoodoo Man
- 3 Cross-Eyeded Mama
- 4 Tougher Than That
- 5 Lover's Rock
- 6 Howlin' For My Baby
- 7 King of the Boogie
- 8 Louisiana Bayou
- 9 Bad Avenue
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UPDATED Nov. 22, 2007
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Hi folks! Greetings -- and welcome to Cobalt Bluesland!
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Welcome to one of the Internet homes of The Cobalt Rhythm Kings of New Haven, CT, one of New England's best Chicago-style and jump blues bands!
For those of you who haven't been there in a while, or who have never been there, a new www.cobaltrhythmkings.com is up and running! It's got photos, bio information and links to tunes, cool Cobalt merchandise and, of course, this site if you want to come back and buy our CD, "HOT . . . Like Red Pepper."
Come check out our other homes:
the new www.CobaltRhythmKings.com !!!
www.myspace.com/TheCobaltRhythmKings
www.sonicbids.com/TheCobaltRhythmKings
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* UPCOMING GIGS:
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-- Friday, Dec. 7: Chow Dim Sum Wine Bar, 962 Chapel St.,New Haven, CT! 9 p.m. For info: 203-772-3002 or www.chownewhaven.com.
-- Saturday, Dec. 8: Wiseguys Restaurant, 848 Boston Post Road, West Haven. For info: 203-924-7726.
-- Saturday, Dec. 22: La Boca, 520 Main St., Middletown. 10 p.m. For info: (860) 347-4777 or www.labocalonline.com
-- Friday, Jan. 11: 313 Campbell Ave, located at -- where else? -- 313 Campbell Ave. in West Haven. For info: 203-937-6877
-- Friday, Jan. 18: Green Street Arts Center, 51 Green St., Middletown. 8-9:30 p.m. For info: 860-685-7871 or www.greenstreetartscenter.org
-- Saturday, Feb. 2: La Boca, 520 Main St., Middletown. 10 p.m. For info: (860) 347-4777 or www.labocalonline.com
Lots more to come soon!
For a more up-to-date list, check out our schedule at www.cobaltrhythmkings.com/gigs
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* COBALT BOOKING INFO:
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The Cobalt Rhythm Kings are booking now for club dates, corporate functions, weddings, house parties, backyard barbecues and the summer and fall fair and festival season! To contact us, please click the e-mail link at the upper left of this page or call us at (203) 415-1670! You also can find everything you need to know on our cool, new "electronic press kit," which can be found at www.sonicbids.com/TheCobaltRhythmKings
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Want to buy a great Cobalt Rhythm Kings "HOT . . . Like Red Pepper" t-shirt, coffee mug, wall clock, baby bib, mousepad, toasty hooded sweatshirt or barbecue apron? Come visit The Cobalt Rhythm Kings Blues Shop-a-Rama at www.cafepress.com/cobalts !
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What else you'll find down below:
1. The Cobalt Story
2. A little more Cobalt history!
3. Meet The Cobalt Rhythm Kings -- our bios!
4. A little bit about The Cobalt Rhythm Kings' trip to the King Biscuit Blues Festival.
5. A note on the Connecticut Blues Society's Jan. 22 and Feb. 20, 2005 tsunami relief benefits in New Haven, CT.
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* THE COBALT STORY:
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The Cobalt Rhythm Kings are steeped in the jazzy jump blues of Louis Jordan, Big Joe Turner, Wynonie Harris and the Liggins brothers; the cool, raging West Coast swing blues of William Clarke, Rod Piazza and James Harman, and the hard-edged Chicago blues of Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Junior Wells and Freddie King, to name a few.
Formed in April 1996 as the outgrowth of four guys thrown together onstage one winter Sunday night at the cafe nine blues jam in New Haven, Connecticut, The Cobalt Rhythm Kings have played everywhere from New York City's former premier blues club, Chicago B.L.U.E.S., to the New Haven Jazz Festival, where they opened on the New Haven Green for the late Son Seals in August 1999, to the International Festival of Arts & Ideas' "Art on the Edge" festival.
This past Jan. 22, 2006, The Cobalt Rhythm Kings opened the show for the great Johnny Winter in front of a packed house at Toad's Place, Connecticut's leading music club. The date followed by just over three months the band's appearance on Oct. 7, 2005 at the Arksansas Blues & Heritage Festival, formerly the King Biscuit Blues Festival. On July 20, 2002, The Kings opened for blues great Etta James, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas and the Fairfield Four in front of thousands of people at the first New Haven Blues & Roots Festival, also on the New Haven Green.
Other stops along the way have included many of Connecticut's better blues and music clubs, from cafe nine and The Blues Cafe in New Haven to Black Eyed Sally's and the Arch Street Tavern in Hartford to The BoxCar in Southport, Conn. Besides Etta, Johnny Winter and Son Seals, they have opened for, backed or appeared with the likes of Phil Guy, Bob Margolin, Lurrie Bell, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Dave Specter, Aron Burton, Debbie Davies, Mark Naftalin, Roomful of Blues, Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, Michael Hill's Blues Mob, John Hammond Jr. and Ron Levy & His Wild Kingdom.
The Cobalt Rhythm Kings' Cobalt Records CD, "HOT . . . Like Red Pepper," contains nine songs -- four originals -- that range from up tempo, danceable jump blues to gritty, grinding Chicago blues and the flat-out boogie of "King of the Boogie," an original tune in memory of the late John Lee Hooker. The CD also includes "Tougher Than That," a powerful tribute to the found American spirit written in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and two other original songs: the bouncing, Chicago-style "Cross-Eyeded Mama" and the steamy, atmospheric "Louisiana Bayou."
In addition to the band's originals, the Cobalts are committed to resurrecting some of the great blues and swing numbers of the past and making sure that the people who brought them to the world get proper credit -- while at the same time doing them fresh rather than treating them as relics. Never heard of Buddy Johnson's "A Pretty Girl, a Cadillac and Some Money," Rudy Greene's "Juicy Fruit" or Albina Jones' "What's the Matter With You?" Get ready to boogie!
The current Cobalt lineup includes Chicago-born singer and harmonica player Mark Zaretsky, Chicago native and longtime New Havener Wendell Jones on bass guitar and vocals, returning original Cobalt drummer George Mastrogiannis, originally from Ansonia, Conn. by way of Boston and New York City laying down the beat and Greg Benn of West Haven, Conn. by way of Guilford, Conn. striking the groove on guitar.
To book The Cobalt Rhythm Kings, please click on the e-mail link at the upper left of this page or call us at (203) 415-1670!
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* A Little (more) Cobalt History . . .
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The Cobalt Rhythm Kings grew out of a chance pairing at the long-running Sunday night cafe nine blues jam, when Ansonia, Connecticut-raised cousins guitarist George Lesiw and drummer George Mastrogiannis and their friend, bassist Steve Klunk of Orange, Conn. were thrown together onstage one Sunday night in January 1996 with Chicago-born harmonica player and vocalist Mark Zaretsky.
After several months of wood-shedding in Lesiw's basement in Ansonia, the band debuted with a short-running weekly Tuesday night gig at when then was called The Bash at the corner of College and Crown streets in downtown New Haven, Conn. The gig lasted a couple of months, but by then the Cobalts were established and began getting work elsewhere.
The original lineup lasted for the first year or so, when Klunk and later Lesiw decided to move on and do other things. Klunk's departure brought Chicago-born bass player and vocalist Wendell Jones to the band. where he remains to this day as its second longest playing member. A few months later, Mastrogiannis also decided to move on, leaving Zaretsky as the only original member by time the band entered its third year -- although both Mastrogiannis and Lesiw have been in and out of the band for multiple periods of time since then!
Zaretsky and Jones were joined for a time by Tom Nagy and later Luke Rodney (www.inityreggae.com) on drums and several different guitarists, most notably New Haven-based, internationally-known blues guitarist Rocky Lawrence (www.rockylawrence.com) and, for a short period of time, Eric Ducoff, now of Ryan Hartt and the Blue Hearts (www.ryanhartt.com) The band also had a sax player for a few months around that time in Jeff "JD" Herzog, and has performed with a horn section on a number of occasions featuring Herzog on sax and Patrick Casey on trumpet as the Hellbound Horns.
The Cobalt Rhythm Kings' most identifiable and longest-running lineup took shape in May 1999 when Norwalk, Conn.-raised drummer Gil Hawkins Jr. and West Haven, Conn.-raised guitarist Greg Benn joined, just in time to open for the late Son Seals on the New Haven Green as part of the New Haven Jazz Festival. The lineup remained rock solid until August 2005, when Hawkins felt the need to move on and play other things. After performing for a few months with Eran Troy Danner & Hot Dallas, he has hooked up with none other than former Cobalt guitarist George Lesiw to play original jam-based blues-jazz fusion in the George Lesiw Band. (www.myspace.com/georgelesiwband) Good luck guys!
It's all in the Cobalt family . . .
Then, after a year or so's reprise as a Cobalt King by founding drummer George Mastrogiannis, The Cobalt Rhythm Kings brought on great new drummer in Vic Chiapetta in the spring of 2007 as we enter the next phase of the band's growth and continue to make some of the best, bluest music we've ever made . . .
Come see for yourself!
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* MEET THE COBALT RHYTHM KINGS!
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We are:
Mark Zaretsky -- Harmonica and vocals
Mark, The Cobalt Rhythm Kings' harp player, front man and creative leader, is the only member of the original four who founded the group, which came together in 1996 at New Haven, Conn.'s cafe nine blues jam, to remain in the band ever since -- although founding drummer George Mastrogiannis is back for a second run at it! Mark is a native of Chicago by way of Delaware, Santa Cruz, Calif. and Detroit and has lived in New Haven since the mid-1980s.
He began his musical career as a student at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he co-founded a blues-rock group called "Automatic Slim" and played with a second blues band backing a character known as "Big Duke." UCSC at that time was a creative crucible where his friends included musicians who would go on to play with Camper Van Beethoven, The Monks of Doom, John Hiatt, Rod Piazza and Counting Crows. Mark put music aside for a number of years as he built his other career as a journalist. It came roaring back in the mid-1990s when another friend, Kevin Sanchez Walsh, convinced him to play harmonica with one incarnation of the long-running New Haven blues-and-soul band, The Bernadettes.
Mark's interest in the blues began much earlier, however. He was part of a circle of friends that followed around Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor, James Cotton, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells and lesser known stars of Chicago blues to see them play in bars and community centers all over Chicago before he was old enough to legally drink in the places they played. He is an avid record and CD collector who has always sought to expose the great blues stars of the past to today's audiences and make sure that people know where the great old songs The Cobalt Rhythm Kings do in addition to the band's originals came from.
When not playing the blues, Mark lives to travel. He has a serious thing for old diners and other bits of vanishing America. He speaks Spanish, has spent time in recent years in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, Hong Kong and Thailand and has an interest in the Andean music of the South America highlands that is almost as strong as his interest in the blues. He thinks the world would be an entirely better place if Los Kjarkas and Ernesto Cavour, Bolivia's greatest contributions to world music, were as well known as The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Wendell Jones -- Bass guitar and vocals
Wendell, who keeps The Cobalt Rhythm Kings in touch with its funky side, has worked as a musician on three "coasts" -- in New Haven, his current longtime home on the East Coast, in Chicago and along the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A native of the South Side of Chicago, Wendell got started early, playing at Chicago's famed Checkerboard Lounge and opening for the likes of James Brown and Ray Charles while still in high school, where he played in a soul band. He spent a decade out in Utah, playing with "Spaces," a jazz fusion group with which he recorded two albums, before moving to New Haven in the 1990s. Wendell was an integral part of New Haven's early 90's alternative music scene, playing with "Kilgore Trout," among other groups, and working as a founding member of the long-running New Haven funk and R&B band, "Boogie Chillun'"
In 1997, he replaced founding Cobalt bassist Steve Klunk and has been a Rhythm King ever since. Wendell is the longest-running member of the group other than harmonica player Mark Zaretsky. He also plays in one of Connecticut's leading reggae bands, I.N.I.T.Y., which can be booked by e-mailing EarthFunk2000@aol.com or going to I.N.I.T.Y.'s website at www.inityreggae.com .
When not playing music, Wendell is an avid bicyclist and the coordinator of artists' models at Paier School of Art and other venues. He also works as a model himself.
We like to pitch The Cobalt Rhythm Kings as a rare chance for you all to come see Wendell work with his clothes on!
Greg Benn -- Guitar
Greg, the youngest member of The Cobalt Rhythm Kings, is also the only father of the bunch.
His daughter, Jessica, is a familiar site at Cobalt gigs, where she has been known to spin around the microphone stands, sit on the Cobalt "Red Pepper" rug and help keep Mark's harmonica microphone cord from getting tangled up on furniture.
She also occasionally likes to join her daddy on stage.
Jessica's younger twin siblings, Luke & Leigha, should be following suit before too long.
Greg grew up in Norwalk and West Haven, Connecticut, where, like many a budding blues guitarist, he played in Jimi Hendrix and southern rock cover bands in high school before finding his way to the blues.
Now a resident of Guilford, Conn., Greg has an interest in teaching music as well as playing it: he works as a music teacher at Carrigan Middle School in West Haven as well as giving private guitar lessons.
Greg holds a teaching certificate in music education from Western Connecticut State University and currently is working towards his master's degree in education.
Vic Chiapetta -- Drums
We're still working on Vic's bio. Check back in the near future!
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COBALT BOOKING INFORMATION: To book The Cobalt Rhythm Kings or obtain more information, please drop us a line at bookings@cobaltrhythmkings.com, click on the e-mail link at the upper left of this page or call us at(203)415-1670!
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IT'S TRUE!
The Cobalt Rhythm Kings performed at the 20th Annual Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival -- formerly the King Biscuit Blues Festival -- which took place Oct. 6-8, 2005 in Helena, Arkansas! We played on the festival's Alltel Emerging Artist stage from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday night, Oct. 7.
We had a great time at the festival, which took place in the Mississippi River Delta home at various times of Robert Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson II and, for a time, Muddy Waters. It's one of the world's leading blues festivals and we were thrilled to be part of it!
We want to thank the organizers of the festival for inviting us for our first performance outside of the Northeast U.S.!
Wendell -- longtime Cobalt bassist Wendell Jones -- was in a wedding in Connecticut that weekend, so our bassist in Helena was our friend Andy Karlok.
Other King Biscut Fest performers included James Cotton, Bobby Blue Bland, Bobby Rush, Irma Thomas, Honeyboy Edwards, Pinetop Perkins & Bob Margolin, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Billy Branch & The Sons of Blues, John Primer, Mark Hummel with James Harman and Little Sonny, Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets featuring Sam Myers, Lonnie Shields, Henry Gray, The Kentucky Headhunters, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Willie King, Otis Taylor, Little Charlie & The Nightcats, Paul Geremia, Fruteland Jackson, Cedell Davis, Drink Small, Wallace Coleman and Arthur Williams.
See y'all at next year's Biscuit!
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*****************A note on the Connecticut Blues Society's Jan. 22 and Feb. 20 tsunami relief benefits in New Haven, CT.
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Connecticut's blues community raised $4,000 for AmeriCares and Save the Children tsunami relief efforts!
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Hey All!
The Connecticut Blues Society's "Connecticut Blues Relief: Wailin' for Sumatra" tsunami blues benefits -- there ended up being two of 'em after the first one proceeded in one of the worst blizzards in years! -- were a blast for all who were involved! We also raised some serious cash to help people recover from the horrible Dec. 26 tsunami off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island.
When all was said and done, we raised an even $4,000! Not bad for a bunch of humble blues musicians and fans!
For those of you who missed it, the original effort DID INDEED go forward on Saturday night, Jan. 22 despite the nasty blizzard -- believe it or not! -- at Toad's Place in New Haven (albeit in slightly abbreviated form.) It wasn't quite the thundering monetary success we might have hoped for under better conditions. But those who attended -- including the great Debbie Davies! -- had lots of fun and we raised a few hundred bucks to help folks in Asia rebuild.
It was so much fun, and the need was so great, that we DID IT AGAIN on Sunday, Feb. 20 at The Playwright in New Haven. The second attempt was A RAGING SUCCESS with tons of great music and hundreds of people who came and helped us raise money and have fun.
We want to thank our headliners, Debbie Davies on Jan. 22 and "New York Blues Queen" Roxy Perry and her band and Mark Naftalin, original keyboard player for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, on Feb. 20, along with all of the many musicians who donated their services. The list includes some of the best blues musicians Connecticut has to offer, including 2004 CT Blues Challenge winners The HooDoo Band, your hosts The Cobalt Rhythm Kings, 2004 CT Blues Challenge winners Ryan Hartt and the Blue Hearts and 1999 CT Blues Challenge winners The Mike Crandall Band, Mike Law and the Playboys; plus acoustic performers Rocky Lawrence, 2004 CT Acoustic Blues Challenge winner "Ramblin' Dan" Stevens, Dave "DC" Jones of the Chili Blues Band and the trio of Chris "Smokin' Opey" D'Amato, Pete Scheips and Garry Segal (of Garry and the Moodswingers.) Special guests sitting in with the various bands included Gary "Sonny Jr." Onofrio, DW Armstrong and Kenny Melillo from DW Armstrong and the Rent Party band, members of Danbury's The Hat City Blues Band, Connecticut "Chairman of the Blues" Chris DePino, "XY Eli" Williams and his colleague "Red House," George Dudak, Vinny Cervoni of Bluzberry Pi, George Lesiw of the Ol'Boy band, horn section Jeff "J.D." Herzog and Patrick Casey, and Blunt White.
We also want to thank our patrons, sponsors and all the merchants who donated gift certificates, including Toad's Place, The Playwright, Cafe Nine, Sam Ash Music, which donated the beautiful jet-black Squier by Fender Telecaster guitar we raffled off, Joe's Music, Foxwoods Casino, Sally's Apizza, Long Wharf Theatre, Black-Eyed Sally's, Bentara, Indochine Pavilion, Dava, Kennedy & Perkins Opticians, La Boca, Indochine Pavilion, Cafe Atlantique, Puerto Vallarta, Gordon LaSalle Music, the New York/New Jersey Blues Collective (www.nynjblues.org) and any establishment we may have missed.
Thanks also to the media across Connecticut that supported us, including the folks at the New Haven Register, Play weekly and the Advocate Newspapers, WVIT-TV Channel 30, Megan Doll and the Chaz & AJ in the Morning crew at WPLR radio, Beef Stew at WCCC radio, Rusty J at WNHU radio, Bill Nolan and Bob Shapiro at WPKN radio and our friends at the Connecticut Post and the Hartford Courant.
Once again, thank you to all!!
reviews
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Amazing blues album by a great band
author: Zack RosenbergThis cd is great. I saw the Cobalt Rhythm Kings in Milford, CT last month and I had to buy their cd and t-shirt. They have good versions of classic blues tunes and great originals like "Cross-Eyed Mama", "King of the Boogie", and "Louisiana Bayou". Greg Benn, the band's guitar player, is my music teacher at school, which is how I found out about the band. Also, check them out August 23rd at the Cafe Atlantique in Milford, CT when I jam with the Cobalt Rhythm Kings!!!
Nothing short of fantastic
author: Nigel Tolley - UKAs a UK Blues fan I buy a lot of American blues music without hearing it first. Sometimes this leads to disappointment. NOT THIS TIME! This album is fantastic. From the opening track Juicy Fruit, this album oozes class. My personal favourite is Tougher Than That closely followed by Bad Avenue. This CD is well worth the purchase price. Hopefully some UK booking agency will book these guys for a European Tour. If they do, I'll be first in line for a ticket!
This CD has it all -- love, tribute, great lyrics, and a beat to get you up and
author: Joyce Remo, Gayle's Corner (www.gaylescorner.com)I have to tell you, at 3AM, after listening to this CD several times, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to hug them all or kill them all.... Why? Because the beat was so hot, sleep was not going to happen that night . . . Your Hoodoo Man -- Ladies, let me tell you, I was torn between wanting to take the vocalist, Mark Zaretsky, (who not only sings like he's making love to you, but whose harmonica sounds like an extension of his mouth (hmmmmmmm),) home with me, or dancing to the wonderful beat . . . This CD has it all -- love, tribute, great lyrics, and a beat to get you up and moving, even if you were a Zombie . . . Give me the Blues! It's the sound of happiness, it's the heartbeat of the people, it's a provider of joy and peace to the soul.
Solid CD with tasty variety.
author: CherokeetexGood variety of blues. A mix of jump, west coast and Chicago sounds. This band swings and even deals with some contemporary issues. Very good musicians with outstanding potential. A very solid debut.
- author: Craig Gilbert, New Haven Advocate
This is an honestly solid release that shows more passion than the oodles of blues bands out there that wrongfully worship at the altar of Mayall and Clapton.