The Blues Project returns to THE SEBASTIANI THEATRE, Fri, Aug 7, 2026, 476 1st St., Sonoma, CA

The Blues Project returns to THE SEBASTIANI THEATRE, Fri, Aug 7, 2026, 8:00 pm 476 1st St., Sonoma, CA

TICKETS: ftpresents.com/events/the-blues-project/

The Blues Project: On the cutting edge of improvisational, classical, blues, and jazz... funky, eclectic music from the golden '60s to the resurgent present.

Back in the mythic Summer of Love, 1967 - when the culture was turn-turn-turning - if you were in New York, the place to be was MacDougal Street. The club to be in was the Café Au Go Go, pedigreed in hipness by Lenny Bruce's famous profanity bust there by the NYPD. The Au Go Go's star band was The Blues Project, a group on the cutting edge of improvisational, classical, blues, and jazz. Al Kooper was the Project's keyboardist and vocalist; Steve Katz, its guitarist and vocalist; founder Danny Kalb, lead guitarist and vocalist; Andy Kulberg, bassist and flutist; and the drummer—the heartbeat—for the group was Roy Blumenfeld. Drummer, vocalist, and quietly legendary figure of the era, Blumenfeld has not stopped shaking things up—making music that's both forward-thinking and nostalgic—in the decades since. Based in Sonoma County, California, since 1985, his professional bio traces the arc of funky, eclectic music from the golden '60s to the resurgent present.

In April of 2025 The Blues Project kicked off their Northern California tour with Blumenfeld joined by David Aguilar (worked with Norton Buffalo), Ken Clark (Michelle Willson), Tim Eschliman (Commander Cody & His Western Airmen) and Mark Newman (Sam Moore). Great crowds appeared, reviews came in and the momentum carried over into a fall run for Blues Project back on the West Coast, and a new album, performing their classic hits, including Al Kooper’s 'I Can’t Keep from Crying Sometimes", "Electric Flute Thing," and "Wake Me, Shake Me" as well as new originals by all band members.

Hear / see The Blues Project tracks & videos:

Live 2025 album (Globe Records) - choose your music service: orcd.co/1vemkee

info at BluesProject.net

tour dates: BluesProject.net/tour-dates

YouTube playlists:
youtube.com/channel/UCJwSdjyk3G52ZJIleXqqLZQ
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOTwG2XEiO2NEYAT4Q7D8dZUJvDAR9H7s

From a recent show: “...people in Sonoma fortunate enough to be at The Sebastiani Theatre last Friday night witnessed an incandescent performance from the legendary band Blues Project! Roy Blumenfeld (original member of the famous East Coast band) presented his latest line-up of extraordinary musicians: East Coasters Mark Newman, and Ken Clark and locals Tim Eschliman, and David Aguilar. It was the single best performance I have ever seen at The Sebastiani...the band played at a level BEYOND smoking HOT. With newer originals.... and tasty tunes from the 1960s ... this current Blues Project deserves national acclaim.” - George Webber KSVY

Album release party w/ Roberta Donnay & The Prohibition Mob to open the show.

The Blues Project wasn’t just a band—it was a crate of musical nuggets, rattling with eclectic impulses that refused to sit still. Emerging in the mid-’60s, The Blues Project stitched together jazz phrasing, folk storytelling, blues grit, and rock energy, with just enough funk undercurrent to keep things loose but never aimless. They flirted with psychedelia, but unlike the more free-falling jam outfits of the era, they played like explorers with a map—improvisational, yes, but guided by structure, by taste, by restraint.

You can hear that balance in the interplay between players like Al Kooper and Danny Kalb—one leaning into swirling, genre-bending textures, the other anchoring things with blues-rooted precision. The result is a sound that feels both adventurous and grounded, like a jam session that knows exactly when to wander and when to come home.

They didn’t just blur genres—they curated them, turning a wide palette into something cohesive. Eclectic without being scattered, experimental without losing the thread: a band that jammed, but kept the guard rails just visible enough to make the ride matter.