The Blue Parrot Is "Souler Powered"

The cold, frosty winter night was recently heated up with the hot sounds of cool Jazz pumping through the air of a bar known as "Long Island's best-kept secret."

Romeo Martello, owner of The Blue Parrot, said that live music a regular part of the schedule at his watering hole.

"We do bands every Friday and Saturday, and sometimes Thursdays and Sundays too," he said. "If we get a band that's willing to play, and I feel like they can bring a draw, then we'll do it."

Martello said that the bands are his unique way of drumming up business.

"The good thing about it is that it brings in people who haven't been here before," he said. "A lot of the bands have people that follow them, and they play all around Long Island. So, a lot of the times people will come to see the band and be like, hey, this is a nice place."

In addition to bands, Martello also runs dart and pool leagues out of the bar, which have also been helpful in bringing in customers.

But competition in Massapequa's bar scene is fierce at times, especially with the country's current economic woes.

"The last two years, I'm down lots...at least thirty percent," he said. "It's bad. Like, the day business hurting...that's what it is. The night, people are always popping in and out, but the weekends, that's the bread and butter of course, like any place else."

"For me, I get the over-40 crowd...McCann's down the block gets the younger crowd," Martello continued. "There's less trouble with the older people...of course, they don't drink as much as the young people, which also make sit tough. A place like Johnny McGorey's, they got the young crowd in there every night drinking. Me, I gotta struggle."

Martello's website has a full schedule of the Blue Parrot's upcoming events.

This evening's band was known as Souler Power, who hyped up the rather sizable crowd with their tight musical skills.

Souler Power derives their unusual name from the style of music they play; unlike many bands on Long Island that cover classic rock and pop hits, this group gets its inspiration from the smooth sounds of Jazz, Soul, and R&B.

"We've been together a few months now," said bass player David Sacrestano. "You won't catch us playing Pop music...we'll walk out first."

In addition to Sacrestano, the band is comprised of Jay Drigon on keyboard, and John Soldo on drums.

Regular guitarist Robert "Smitty" Smith, who was ill, was replaced by Dr. Victor Fumoso. Also home with a bug was singer Charlie Cox, who couldn't be replaced in time. Thus, the set was instrumental-only.

However, the lack of vocals didn't stop Souler Power from tearing the house down with a sound reminiscent of something you'd hear in a dark, smoky, New Orleans bar.

The band's cites inspiration from "so cool they're hot" artists such as Miles Davis, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and Herbie Hancock.

Drig said that Facebook was actually responsible for Souler Power's formation.

"David and I used to play together in college," he said. "Then he went to Medical school, and I became a music teacher, and years later we randomly got in touch on Facebook. At that point we both had our own separate blues-style bands, but we started playing together again and formed out own group."

Souler Power's set  included songs such as "Cissy Strut" by The Meters and "Green Onion" by Booker T and the MGs. The band has played the Blue Parrot before, and if the well-received performance was any indication, they will be doing so again in the near future.

Sacrestano regularly updates his MySpace page with Souler Power's upcoming gigs.