Roomful of Blues at the Kate November 5

OLD SAYBROOK, CT - The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, “the Kate”, welcomes the world-renowned, horn-powered, house-rocking blues band Roomful of Blues on Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 8:00 pm.

Roomful of Blues has been delighting audiences for over fifty years and have been dubbed “the best little big band in the blues” by Blues Music Magazine. The group has earned five Grammy Award nominations and a slew of other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards, and has been selected as Best Blues Band two times by the prestigious DownBeat International Critics Poll.

The band’s sixth release on Alligator Records, In A Roomful Of Blues, was produced by guitarist and bandleader Chris Vachon and features thirteen wide-ranging songs, including ten band-composed originals. The album is filled with soaring blues, zydeco twists, late-night ballads, Latin-tinged funk and a touch of vintage, fifth-gear rock ‘n’ roll.

Vachon first joined Roomful in 1990 and has been leading the band since 1998. The band has maintained its signature sound through great musicianship and a stellar horn section—featuring tenor and alto saxophonist Rich Lataille, who first joined the band in 1970. Lataille’s masterful playing can evoke either the fat-toned, honking sax of the glory days of early rock or the cool elegance of big band swing jazz.

While Roomful of Blues has always been one of the tightest, most joyful blues ensembles in the world, they have never sounded fresher or stronger than with the current line-up. Along with Vachon and Lataille, the band includes vocalist Phil Pemberton, baritone and tenor saxophonist Alek Razdan, trumpeter Carl “Geerz” Gerhard, bassist John Turner, drummer Mike Coffey and keyboardist Rusty Scott.

For information and tickets for all shows at the Kate, visit www.thekate.org or call 860-510-0453.