Press

The DelRayz
By Craig Outhier
published: December 24, 2009

Let's hear it for gender diversity in the workplace. After tearing up Valley gin joints for the better part of two decades in mainly all-female bands, blueswomen Rochelle Raya and Nancy Dalessandro have relaxed their ladies-only policy and launched a new group with some help from the less-fair sex. Not that Raya and Dalessandro ever hurt for lack of a Y-chromosome-carrying collaborator. Both are inductees of the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame, and both were founding members of Sistah Blue, one of the Valley's most decorated and commercially successful funk-soul-blues acts. After playing their final Sistah Blues show last year, singer/harmonicist Raya and guitarist Dalessandro made it an all-gender affair by joining forces with a trio of talented journeymen: guitarist James Robertson (formerly of Sweetfinger), bassist Scott Alamprese (Whiskey River) and drummer-vocalist Dale Loyola, who once did a stint with Ray Charles. The resulting band — named, presumably, after a short-lived Chevrolet car model from the late '50s — plays the same mix of classic covers and soul-infused originals that made the old band so popular. Back when it was all sistahs

Review Int. Blues Challenge 2005
Rolly Hough (Black Swamp Blues Society)
O.k. I have to admit what drove me to see them was the fact that they are an "all female blues band." Part of me was thingking that Phoenix sent us a "Novelty Band," how very wrong I was. Talent wise these ladies could be stacked up to anyone in the competition that weekend. Is there one stand-out in this band? No, everyone pulls in an equal share to the end product. On their website you will see credentials that would make many national bands proud. This band would be a no-brainer for any booking agent or club owner. Not only do you get the press of an "all girl blues band" but you get a top flight act besides. I know I'll be telling some club owners about these ladies. If anyone books this band because of me, you'll be glad to buy me a beer for the advice.

Strong turnout for Blues Blast in Mesa
by Larry Rodgers - Feb. 22, 2009 03:42 PM
The Arizona Republic
Perfect weather, nearly eight hours of music and a strong turnout made Blues Blast 2009, which marked the 20th anniversary of the Phoenix Blues Society, a success on Saturday.

More than 1,200 blues lovers enjoyed the warm temperatures and good vibes at Mesa Ampitheatre.

There was just enough elbow room in the lawn seating and room for scores of dancers on the concrete area in front of the stage.
Performances by national acts Janiva Magness, Omar & the Howlers and the Juke Joint Duo, featuring Cedric Burnside and Lightin' Malcolm, were well-received.

"I'm very happy," blues society President Kyle Deibler said. "The turnout is great and the music has been solid. And most of the people have stayed all the way through Janiva's (event-closing) set."

The California-based Magness, who got her start singing in Phoenix, wrapped things up with an over-the-top set that had festival goers crowding up to the edge of the stage.

She and her band spotlighted her latest CD, "What Love Will Do," with such blues-rocking cuts as "That's What Love Will Make You Do."

A special anniversary treat Saturday for the 18th edition of Blues Blast was a nearly two-hour showcase of local artists that featured scores of Arizona's heavy hitters jamming in several makeshift lineups.

Vocalists shouting the blues included "Big Pete" Pearson, "Small Paul" Hamilton (returning to the Valley after five years), George Bowman, "Chief" Schabuttie Gilliame and Rochelle Raya.

Hot-shot guitarists included Chuck Hall, Scotty Spenner, Matt Roe, Johnny Rapp and Nancy Dalessandro.

Blowing the harmonica were Bill Tarsha, Bob Corritore and Hans Olson.

Standout bassists, drummers, horn players and other musicians also made their way into the sets.

While this type of jam session has the potential to quickly go off the tracks, this retrospective was focused and enjoyable.

Several musicians credited Rich Brydle, guitarist for Cold Shott and the Hurricane Horns and a blues society board member, with organizing much of the retrospective.

This year's Blues Blast, which bills itself as the first blues festival of the calendar year in the United States, will go down as one of the blues society's most memorable events.

CD Review: 5 Pieces O' Sweet
Blues Revue - August 2003
The all-X-chromosome Arizona group Sistah Blue returns with another album that shows off impressive songwriting. Singer Lila Sherman's gospel inflections and raw power are a marvel; Rochelle Raya adds taut, toneful harp solos. Nancy Dalessandro's guitar is fluid, sharp and clean (including excellent slide on "Lyin' There") and she pens originals that transcend cliche. 5 Pieces o' Sweet moves through jazzy shuffles, sweet soul, Zydeco, and invigorating blues("Motormouth," "Love to get you up"). There's hard James Brown-style funk in "Don't call Me" and the Sistahs' fresh take on Dinah Washington's "Evil Gal Blues." Great party music with an original sound.

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City of Glendale Gibson Jazz and Blues Festival - April 12-13, 2008

Review and Photos By Rob Paullin

Yes, Virginia, there is a blues festival in the Sonora Desert. It’s called the City of Glendale Gibson Guitar Jazz and Blues Festival, and Blues Blast was there for much of the 25th anniversary event this past weekend in suburban Phoenix, Arizona.

The mid-April weather—between what passes for winter in the Valley of the Sun and the upcoming monsoon and heat season—was perfect for the two day, two stage event in what the locals describe as “historic downtown Glendale.” “Historic” apparently is in the eye and mind of the beholder as Glendale is only a few dozen years old, but the city has built a beautiful outdoor amphitheater combined into the steps of a sunken entrance to one of the public buildings included in their downtown square and park. Several nice restaurants surround the square and trees abound, so even the dry heat of an Arizona spring was no problem for the many thousands of blues and jazz fans--and the curious--who attended. With a quarter century of experience at this, the organizers have learned how to do it right.

And that includes knowing how to blend a perfect mix of national touring blues acts like Tommy Castro and Roomful of Blues, with an eclectic menu of new and established home-grown Arizona-based performers. The line-up included Arizona Blues Hall of Fame inductees Hans Olson, Big Pete Peterson, and Bob Corritore, among the dozen-plus others scheduled to appear on the blues stage.

We’ll focus on a couple of the Arizona acts to help tell the story of the Glendale Gibson Jazz and Blues Festival. And since Blues Blast focuses on, well, the blues, our apologies to the many fine jazz performers who graced the second stage in downtown Glendale.

Big Daddy D Darryl Portas and his Dynamites were among the first to catch the Blues Blast’s roving eye, with Anton Teschner belting out some sold sax work together with Steven Ayres on bass and Drew Hall on backing guitar, all in front of Carlos Jones on drums. The highlight was when vocalist and guitarist Big Daddy D stepped off the stage to play slide guitar with the obligatory beer bottle, then even a lawn chair and finally one of those old fashioned record albums. This performance drew the audience in for the Prescott, Arizona, based band, and helped set the stage for nightfall and eventually, headliner Tommy Castro.

It also made for a tough act to follow for Phoenix-based all-girl blues band, Sistah Blue. But the 13-year Phoenix blues veterans followed brilliantly, behind the searing harmonica work of Rochelle Raya, the stand-out instrumental stylings of guitarist and song-writer Nancy Dalessandro, the driving rhythms of drummer Janet Daniels and the soulful vocals of Lila Sherman. The songs—mostly written by Arizona Blues Hall of Famer Dalessadro—and the performance, had the band’s large local fan base up on their feet and dancing for the entire set. And a sad note for our Arizona Blues Blast readers: Sistah Blue is retiring after hundreds of performances and several CD’s over their dozen-plus years: Their last public performance will be May 22 at Phoenix’ Rhythm Room, if you want to say “Good bye and good luck.”

We’ll note one other performance in brief, not because they were not good—they were—but because they are from San Francisco and not the Phoenix area. That’s Mark Hummel and The Blues Survivors. The highlight of their show was their original song, “The Big Easy Ain’t Easy No More,” a protest song over the way the current administration is dealing with the post Katrina crisis in New Orleans. Regrettably, the powerful song drew only a smattering of polite applause from the huge audience. I’ll say no more on that….

With 25 years of experience, the promoters and organizers of the Glendale Gibson Jazz and Blues festival know how to do it right! Put it on your list for next spring in the Valley of the Sun. And as if you needed any more incentives to attend next April….it’s FREE!!!

Two Lone Peak bottles up for the Glendale Gibson Jazz and Blues Festival!

Reviewer, journalist and educator Rob Paullin has worked and sampled the blues everywhere from Chicago, New Orleans and Memphis to Kyiv, Beijing and Venice.

CD Review: Sistah Blue
Blues Revue 2000
This group comes with a rare pedigree: a second-place finish in 1996 at the International Blues Talent Competition in Memphis for unsigned bands. This first recording indicates that the showing was no fluke. While Sistah Blue makes no secret of its all-female composition, neither does it rely on gender for its novelty value. The band's card simply announces "Arizona's Premier Blues and R&B Band," and "Sistah Blue" presents an honest, tough blues act recorded "98% live" in the studio. Though Sistah Blue came together out of Phoenix's Rhythm Room jams, the music here has a purposeful quality galaxies away from most open sessions.