Adam Gussow and Alan Gross, a.k.a. The Blues Doctors, are Mississippi-based blues veterans who play a mix of Delta standards and urban grooves from the Texas-to-Chicago axis with some New Orleans funk thrown in. They’re a two-man band with a full-on sound: Gussow on harmonica and drumset, Gross on guitar, with both men sharing vocal duties.
Roosters Happy Hour is their debut recording as a duo. It includes blues standards such as “Next Time You See Me,” “Rock Me,” “Pride and Joy,” and “Sweet Home Chicago”; jazz and R&B favorites such as Stanley Turrentine’s “Sugar” and the Crusaders’ “Put It Where You Want It”; and a handful of originals by Gussow, including a funky chromatic harp workout, “Staten Island Hurricane Blues,” and the Hooker-style boogie, “I Need Your Love.”
Named for the steady Friday gig at Rooster’s Blues House in Oxford, Mississippi, where Gussow and Gross hammered our their dynamic two-man sound, Roosters Happy Hour will please traditionalists and adventurous blues fans alike.
The Blues Doctors are a power blues trio without the bass, driven by Gussow’s thumping kickdrum; they’re a hard-swinging jump combo distilled to the bare essentials, propelled by Gross’s jangling guitar and Gussow’s dazzling harp lines. Roosters Happy Hour is down-home blues with a big-city angle of attack.
Marking Gross’s debut as a recording artist, Roosters Happy Hour also continues Gussow’s transformation from a harmonica virtuoso into a one-man rhythm machine. Those who remember the early 1990s recordings of Satan and Adam will enjoy the Blues Doctors’s remakes of “Watermelon Man” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”—this time with Gussow in the percussion chair.
Roosters Happy Hour is a joyous, funky, deep-dish feast. It’s two seasoned veterans having a great time with the blues.
Roosters Happy Hour is available direct from the band as both a download (mp3s or WAV files) and a CD. It is also available on iTunes, Amazon mp3s, and CD Baby.
Please visit the band’s webpage: www.TheBluesDoctors.net.
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This article was originally printed in The Local Voice #196 (published January 23, 2014). To download a PDF of this issue, click HERE.
