PROFESSOR LOUIE & THE CROWMATIX
''SOUL BLUES''
2014
43:00
1 A Few Hours 04:13
2 Ain't No Fun To Me 04:37
3 Some Bad News 04:34
4 Someone 04:49
5 Tired Of The Blues 05:38
6 That's Alright 03:09
7 Runnin' Out 03:17
8 Between Midnight & Two 03:59
9 Next Time You See Me 04:14
10 Baby Don't Do It 04:06
Aaron Louis Hurwitz, aka “Professor Louie”: Hammond organ, keyboards, vocals, accordion
Miss Marie Spinosa: vocals, percussion, piano
Gary Burke: drums
Frank Campbell: bass, vocals
Josh Colow: guitar, vocals
John Platania: guitar
& Larry Parker with “The Rock Of Ages Horns”
REVIEW
by Brian Robbins
It took a couple listens to figure out just what made the latest album from Professor Louie & The Crowmatix such a hoot to listen to – but I finally did. The key to the joy of the new Soul Blues can be summed up by the tracks that bookend it: “A Few Hours” (a Crowmatix original) and “Baby Don’t You Do It” (a Holland/Dozier/Holland tune that you may know best from The Band’s classic cover version).“A Few Hours” gets things cooking with a little blast of snazzy-ass drum by Gary Burke before everybody – including guests The Rock Of Ages Horns – piles on. The next 4 minutes and 18 seconds are a neat mix of New Orleans slippery hipness and funky soul that meshes perfectly into a big ol’ head-nodding groove that you can feel good about shaking your butt to no matter how many grey hairs you do or don’t have.
On the other end of the album you’ll find “Baby Don’t You Do It” – true to the spirit of The Band while finding its own blend of cool and raunch with horns a’bellowing, Frank Campbell’s bass rump-wumping against the drums, a guitar solo that’s absolutely n-a-s-t-y and Professor Louie’s keys lighting a flame under the whole works. The two tunes are totally different songs, but the common thread is that thing that has long made Woodstock, NY America’s musical mecca: there are no borders; no zip codes; no labels – just songs, boys and girls. The Mississippi might deposit everything it’s gathered up in the Delta region, but this country’s music has a way of drifting towards upstate New York, where it’s received with open arms and open minds. Maybe nobody gets rich (though they deserve to), but everybody goes home with a smile. That thing that helped birth the music created within the walls of Big Pink? That vibe that infused the wood of Levon Helm’s Barn? That’s the same stuff that has fueled Professor Louie & The Crowmatix’ sound since the beginning and still does to this day on Soul Blues. There’s funkiness supreme (check out the bellowing ‘bone on the Tom Malone-penned “Tired Of The Blues”); sweet and raucous testifying by The Crowmatix’ Miss Marie (“Runnin’ Out” is fierce; “Someone” is packed with longing); and blues you can use (“Next Time You See Me” is made for wide-grinned give-and-take with the horns; Professor Louie’s keys keep the edge sharp on “Ain’t No Fun To Me”). “That’s Alright” takes its slow and sexy time telling you that it’s alright … if you end up needing to mop your brow afterwards, well, that’s your problem, buster. And you could take some of those tasty keyboard runs woven all through “Some Bad News”, put ‘em in a Mason jar, and label the whole thing “Cream Of Blues” – you’d be right on.Fads and trends come and go, but the music rooted in the Woodstock scene is as solid and real as the stuff we all think and feel. Thank Christ that Professor Louie & The Crowmatix are out there doing what they’re doing.
BIOGRAPHY
by Erik Hage, AMG
Multi-instrumentalist/producer Professor Louie (aka Aaron Hurwitz) is primarily known for his long-standing association with the Band and for being somewhat of a Zelig on the Woodstock, NY, music scene during the '90s.
The New York native studied piano and arrangement at such NYC programs as Henry Street Settlement and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and performed in the downtown club scene with the roots-based Mighty Gospel Giants of Brooklyn. In the early '80s, he was brought into contact with Levon Helm, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson, who were, at the time, resurrecting the Band. After collaborating with Hudson throughout the '80s in Woodstock, Louie made the move to the small town. Weekly sessions with a variety of artists, including his writing partner, vocalist "Miss Marie" Spinosa, at Levon Helm's home studio led to the formation of the Crowmatix.
During the '90s, Louie co-produced and engineered the Band albums Jericho, High on the Hog, and Jubilation. He also paired up with Rick Danko for a series of duo concerts and did studio work with groups as diverse as Mercury Rev (Deserter's Songs), Livingston Taylor, Four Men and a Dog, and Artie Traum. Louie toured with Danko shortly before the singer/bassist's death and co-produced and performed extensively on his posthumous album, Times Like These. Professor "Louie" & the Crowmatix released Over the Edge on Breeze Hill Records in August 2000. Jam followed a year later, offering a collection of jam sessions by some of the best roots rockers in the underground. A year later, Flyin' High offered more of the same.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
''SOUL BLUES''
2014
43:00
1 A Few Hours 04:13
2 Ain't No Fun To Me 04:37
3 Some Bad News 04:34
4 Someone 04:49
5 Tired Of The Blues 05:38
6 That's Alright 03:09
7 Runnin' Out 03:17
8 Between Midnight & Two 03:59
9 Next Time You See Me 04:14
10 Baby Don't Do It 04:06
Aaron Louis Hurwitz, aka “Professor Louie”: Hammond organ, keyboards, vocals, accordion
Miss Marie Spinosa: vocals, percussion, piano
Gary Burke: drums
Frank Campbell: bass, vocals
Josh Colow: guitar, vocals
John Platania: guitar
& Larry Parker with “The Rock Of Ages Horns”
REVIEW
by Brian Robbins
It took a couple listens to figure out just what made the latest album from Professor Louie & The Crowmatix such a hoot to listen to – but I finally did. The key to the joy of the new Soul Blues can be summed up by the tracks that bookend it: “A Few Hours” (a Crowmatix original) and “Baby Don’t You Do It” (a Holland/Dozier/Holland tune that you may know best from The Band’s classic cover version).“A Few Hours” gets things cooking with a little blast of snazzy-ass drum by Gary Burke before everybody – including guests The Rock Of Ages Horns – piles on. The next 4 minutes and 18 seconds are a neat mix of New Orleans slippery hipness and funky soul that meshes perfectly into a big ol’ head-nodding groove that you can feel good about shaking your butt to no matter how many grey hairs you do or don’t have.
On the other end of the album you’ll find “Baby Don’t You Do It” – true to the spirit of The Band while finding its own blend of cool and raunch with horns a’bellowing, Frank Campbell’s bass rump-wumping against the drums, a guitar solo that’s absolutely n-a-s-t-y and Professor Louie’s keys lighting a flame under the whole works. The two tunes are totally different songs, but the common thread is that thing that has long made Woodstock, NY America’s musical mecca: there are no borders; no zip codes; no labels – just songs, boys and girls. The Mississippi might deposit everything it’s gathered up in the Delta region, but this country’s music has a way of drifting towards upstate New York, where it’s received with open arms and open minds. Maybe nobody gets rich (though they deserve to), but everybody goes home with a smile. That thing that helped birth the music created within the walls of Big Pink? That vibe that infused the wood of Levon Helm’s Barn? That’s the same stuff that has fueled Professor Louie & The Crowmatix’ sound since the beginning and still does to this day on Soul Blues. There’s funkiness supreme (check out the bellowing ‘bone on the Tom Malone-penned “Tired Of The Blues”); sweet and raucous testifying by The Crowmatix’ Miss Marie (“Runnin’ Out” is fierce; “Someone” is packed with longing); and blues you can use (“Next Time You See Me” is made for wide-grinned give-and-take with the horns; Professor Louie’s keys keep the edge sharp on “Ain’t No Fun To Me”). “That’s Alright” takes its slow and sexy time telling you that it’s alright … if you end up needing to mop your brow afterwards, well, that’s your problem, buster. And you could take some of those tasty keyboard runs woven all through “Some Bad News”, put ‘em in a Mason jar, and label the whole thing “Cream Of Blues” – you’d be right on.Fads and trends come and go, but the music rooted in the Woodstock scene is as solid and real as the stuff we all think and feel. Thank Christ that Professor Louie & The Crowmatix are out there doing what they’re doing.
BIOGRAPHY
by Erik Hage, AMG
Multi-instrumentalist/producer Professor Louie (aka Aaron Hurwitz) is primarily known for his long-standing association with the Band and for being somewhat of a Zelig on the Woodstock, NY, music scene during the '90s.
The New York native studied piano and arrangement at such NYC programs as Henry Street Settlement and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and performed in the downtown club scene with the roots-based Mighty Gospel Giants of Brooklyn. In the early '80s, he was brought into contact with Levon Helm, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson, who were, at the time, resurrecting the Band. After collaborating with Hudson throughout the '80s in Woodstock, Louie made the move to the small town. Weekly sessions with a variety of artists, including his writing partner, vocalist "Miss Marie" Spinosa, at Levon Helm's home studio led to the formation of the Crowmatix.
During the '90s, Louie co-produced and engineered the Band albums Jericho, High on the Hog, and Jubilation. He also paired up with Rick Danko for a series of duo concerts and did studio work with groups as diverse as Mercury Rev (Deserter's Songs), Livingston Taylor, Four Men and a Dog, and Artie Traum. Louie toured with Danko shortly before the singer/bassist's death and co-produced and performed extensively on his posthumous album, Times Like These. Professor "Louie" & the Crowmatix released Over the Edge on Breeze Hill Records in August 2000. Jam followed a year later, offering a collection of jam sessions by some of the best roots rockers in the underground. A year later, Flyin' High offered more of the same.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
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