The following is a reprint of a cover story from The Boston Blues News featuring The Steve DiCecco Band.  The Boston Blues News is the magazine of the Boston Blues Society (http://www.bostonblues.com).

Courtesy of BBS - Cover Photo, Mark Gillard - http://www.bostonblues.com 

 
Boston Blues News, Nov/Dec 2003, by Steve Mroz.

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese has helped us all to re-visit the inventive and soulful founders and masters of the blues as the "Year of the Blues", 2003 continues its celebration of the blues and the true roots of modern music. Bands like Boston¹s Steve DiCecco Band have built a musical foundation on the blues and they understand well the connection between the blues and the many other forms of modern music that we hear today. With two of its members being Berklee College of Music grads and one a self-taught musical genius of sorts, these blues players are not only masters of the blues but are masters of the art of music itself. It¹s the mix of musical styles that each band member brings to the band that actually drives its members to continually challenge themselves. Bandleader Steve DiCecco states, "Each member of the band has their own unique musical background, education and experiences that they bring with them and share with the band. Our differences in styles and musical preferences are what have helped us to grow and mature at an extremely rapid pace. Everyone in the band brings something musically different to the plate and the exposure to these different musical styles forces the band to also stretch itself musically. It¹s a challenge for us, it¹s a great experience and we¹re all having fun doing it."

The band¹s remarkable talent and its unique style and popularity among local blues lovers won them the opportunity to compete in this year's "Boston Blues Challenge" that took place at Harper¹s Ferry. As the Challenge¹s "Wildcard" band, the Steve DiCecco Band competed with finalists Ryan Hartt and the Blue Hearts, The Matthew Stubbs Band (2003 Blues Challenge Winners), the Jose Ramos Band, and Lloyd Thayer. Even though their performance did not win them the top seat in this highly competitive event, they continue to emerge with confidence as one of Boston¹s finest blues, rhythm and blues, rock, and jazz bands. It¹s their musical versatility, their energy, their mix of musical styles, and their repertoire of over 200 songs that have grabbed the attention of many local blues fans. At their performances you will journey through the band¹s well chosen and well mastered blues, rhythm and blues, swing, rock, country, Motown, and jazz tunes. Their mix includes songs from Robert Johnson, Patsy Cline, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke, the Allman Brothers, Van Morrison, the Doors, Ray Charles, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, George Benson, and well beyond. This band can easily please any musical taste on any given night and give the audience its money¹s worth.

The band is fronted by San Antonio, Texas, native Steve Denney. Steve is not shy to let folks know where his roots lie as he sometimes sports his black cowboy hat, his western shirt, and his turquoise Texas string tie. Steve perfected his chops in the South Texas blues, rock, and jazz circuits. Growing up where the sun blazes hot and the blues run deep, at the age of 10 he began to learn the guitar and was primarily inspired at the time by Leo Kotkee¹s 12-string finger picking as well as his older brother Butch, who today is a mean blues bass player and vocalist back in South Texas. Steve paid his dues in South Texas playing hundreds of gigs in juke joints, roadhouses, clubs, pubs, streets, and stages. He tried different things and jumped from Tex-Mex bands, to rock, to blues, and even to fusion jazz.

He began his musical experiences in the usual way with a series of highschool rock bands, but was later drawn more toward blues and jazz. Denney is a versatile, highly energetic singer-guitarist-composer whose skillful guitar playing and singing are the result of a mix of all of his diverse influences as well as many years of playing in the southern music circuits. His musical gumbo consists of blues, jazz, swing, rock and roll, Tex-Mex, and country. He has a sizzling Texas-blues guitar style as well as a rough, fiery, "almost make you want to cry out yourself" kind of blues voice. Both of those abilities stem from a few of his earlier blues influences like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Winter while his jazz guitar playing cunningly emulates sounds inspired by Pat Metheny and Al DiMeola. Steve is equally comfortable playing intricate jazz standards or tearing the room up with some hot and spicy Texas blues. Steve says, "The best thing about growing up in San Antonio at the time I did was the music that could be found everywhere around the city. You could stroll around and for a couple of bucks hear players like Johnny Winter, Eric Johnson, and believe it or not, the yet to be famous Stevie Ray. Toward the River Walk you could pick up on some jazz bands like Jim Cullum¹s Happy Jazz Band. There were some marathon open mic jams with players like Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm, or Doug Clifford and Stu Cook from Creedence Clearwater Revival. All you had to do was just reach up and plug into the air - music was everywhere." Since making his debut upon the Boston blues scene in 1997, he has had the privilege to play or sit in with some of the area¹s most talented musicians: the All-Stars, Boston Baked Blues, the Liz Lannon Band, Dr. Harp Delta Blues Band, Shirley Lewis, Basic Black, Mission of Blues, Part-Time Lovers, and many more. He sings praises about the Boston area blues scene and all of its outstanding talent, and praises his wife especially for being so supportive and understanding while he pursues his love of playing and pleasing audiences.

The Band¹s rhythm section is anchored by veteran bassist Butch "Keepin' the Gruve" Hirtle. Butch began playing guitar at the age of 15 and jumped from guitar to bass because as he tells it, "I found that the bass guitar and I were a comfortable fit but for me personally, it was really an instrument that opened up many opportunities for playing. There was an abundance of lead guitarists at the time and a lack of well playing local bassists back in the early to mid 60¹s."

Butch¹s musical beginnings were with 50¹s rock and surf type bands and even though he had taken regular guitar lessons, his bass playing was a continual and purposeful learning experience. His bands were often favorites at the old Surf Nantasket and the Rexacana in Marshfield playing all the top 40 tunes of the day and rejoicing in the popularity gained from all of the baby boomer fans. In his late teen years he was already playing with older and more experienced musicians and had been playing out in South Shore nightclubs while still in high school. Butch admits, "I loved playing the bass and the feeling that it gave me. The dynamics of bass playing were much more obvious to me than regular guitar playing and it became more obvious and important to me then." After graduating high school in the early sixties, Butch ventured off to New Orleans in 1964, not something that a typical high school grad would do at that time. He made it just in time to experience one of the worst hurricanes that the city had ever seen. He quickly found the music scene there to be a very closed one for any new musician trying to break into the business. With his persistence and need to succeed in his musical dreams mixed in with a little Voodoo luck, he found a band rehearsing for their upcoming tour on the southern rhythm and blues circuit who were in desperate need of a bass player. Was it luck or perfect timing? Either way, Butch was hired and then spent the next year traveling the roads of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, and up to St. Louis, certainly a far cry for a Massachusetts boy who shortly before that was playing to a mostly teen and early 20¹s crowd in the Boston area. His longing for home eventually brought him back to the Boston area, and with experiences that most young players never get. Butch brought back with him a new confidence and new skills and an incentive to keep the pace up. He wanted to play, sing, and to make money at what he loved the most. His focus became directed more toward function and wedding bands which helped to financially support his marriage and growing family. He was comfortable, making decent money, and able to play locally. After many years of hard work and dedication, he claims that the entire scene and workload eventually burned him out. He put the bass away for several years and became a regular nine to fiver. But as his children got older, the urge to play again was there. In the late 90¹s he began to show up at several local blues jams and eventually met Steve DiCecco and Liz Lannon who were running and sharing blues jam duties at the Blue Train in Stoughton, MA. This versatile and seasoned bass player began to be recognized and hired on occasion by both the Liz Lannon Band as well as the Steve DiCecco Band. Steve DiCecco noticed how Butch was moving smoothly between such diverse musical genres as jazz, 60¹s, soul, blues, rock, Motown, and pop and knew that he could add a special chemistry that would be great for his band. Butch was hired quickly as the band¹s full-time bass player and has been a part of the family for the past three years. Butch, like Steve Denney, gladly praises how lucky and appreciative he is to have a wife and a family who understand his dedication to music and his love of playing.

Next in the line up is New York born and raised Ed "Face" Korman on keyboard who may sometimes be found sharing bass guitar duties with Butch. Face is a strong, passionate and knowledgeable keyboard player-singer-songwriter who is comfortable and confident with his performances. He¹s a 1985 Berklee grad who performs with the kind of talent that one would expect from a person with that level of training. His formal training and his past musical experiences give him an amazing versatility which supports the eclectic mix of styles played by the band. He easily switches between genres like a fine tuned transmission, moving smoothly from blues to jazz to rock, Motown, funk, and back. Via his association with Harvey Robbins Productions, he has worked with quite a number of groups such as the Harptones, the Diamonds, the Belmonts, the Marsels, and a never-ending list of local notables. Having been born with an ear for music he began tinkering with the piano in front of relatives at the age of four, trying to copy sounds he heard on recorded musicals like "South Pacific" and "Oklahoma". Living and growing up in a large apartment building in Queens, his family befriended a European neighbor down the hall who played classical piano. From age nine through twelve that neighbor taught him piano as well as attempting to enforce within him a structured discipline for playing music. Face learned early that he really just wanted to play from the heart and was not yet ready for any disciplined training. His neighbor finally called it quits and recommended that he seek a traditional piano teacher. Face puts the blame on the Beatles, who brought a completely new sound to the U.S., as well as many albums which he would get completely absorbed in, listen to intently, and then just let loose with his keys. There were more formal lessons but just a little less piano playing in his late teens and early twenties because of his new interest in the guitar and the bass. He jumped right into the New York music scene and for several years played with a variety of cover bands, did a few tours, and many times found himself playing with a much older group of veteran players. In 1981, a friend who was already attending Berklee convinced Face to come to Boston and enroll, and that he did. He eventually became a fixture at Berklee that everyone recognized. Because he was seven to eight years older than the average student, his group of school friends included a few teachers who were younger than him. His musical excellence, drive, helpfulness at school, and his popularity all won him the favor of faculty who helped him to find the funds he needed to complete his music program. He graduated at the top of his class in 1985. He says he was chanted by his graduating class during graduation ceremonies as he approached the podium for his diploma. BB King was sitting in the audience and was the recipient that day of an honorary degree. When Face left the podium with his diploma he left the Dean shaking a fake rubber hand. BB King¹s remarks that day were, "that man must be the Face!" From 1985 to 1993 he worked the Lombardo¹s wedding band circuit. In the late 80¹s and throughout half of the 90¹s, Face had some serious and debilitating physical ailments as well as severe allergies. He finally quit smoking and drinking and began a quest of self-healing through holistic medicine and acupuncture. He succeeded in the cure and overcome what he had. He eventually felt good enough to get back to playing. Today, Face is one of the busiest people in the music business. His first and deepest love is for playing in the Steve DiCecco Band, but he is also playing and sitting in on several other bands, playing mostly 50¹s, 60¹s, and some country music. Face is also involved in the music side of a comedy dinner theater group called the "Rhonda Gala Divorce", which is somewhat of a spoof on "Joey and Maria¹s Wedding".

If anything, Face is certainly a refined piano player, singer, songwriter, arranger, and for those who know him well a musical coach who has been called a person who has his ears all the way to the floor. He loves to listen to other musicians as much as he loves to play and quite often will offer ideas and suggestions to them to help improve the total sound of their band. Some take it to heart and listen in return while those that may have been slightly offended probably don¹t know Face very well.

Anchoring the other half of the rhythm section is Jeff "JJ" Armstrong on drums. Jeff is the youngest and newest addition to the band as he replaced former drummer Skip Fisher, an unbelievably talented drummer who left the band just prior to their competing in the BBS Blues Challenge in July. The void had to be filled rapidly and the band needed a drummer who was highly adaptable and versatile to the various music styles that they played and had to get on board quickly with little time to practice. Jeff was a lucky find for the DiCecco Band because he is a professionally trained drummer and a Berklee College of Music graduate. Here was this 20-something young guy thrown into a mix of veteran and much older players who were already comfortable with each other and familiar with their wide musical mix of songs. Remarkably, Jeff¹s professional schooling and training came through with flying colors and the band was able to perform at the 2003 Blues Challenge flawlessly. His timing and rhythm are so strong and accurate on any song the band does that an unsuspecting observer and listener might think that Jeff had always been there at the drum kit.

It was Jeff¹s father who was the major musical influence in his life. Growing up with a musician father, Jeff was always around music and songwriting. Jeff states, "Songwriting was a big part of what was going on in the house as I was growing up. On a few occasions, my father would run something by me and ask me what I thought about the song he was working on." His father was a guitarist in a rock band in the late 70¹s called the "Bumsteads" and he would quite often bring Jeff to the band¹s practice sessions as well as to a few gigs. Jeff found himself always gravitating toward the drums. Even as a toddler he would often sit at the drum kit and bang away while his dad¹s band would be taking a break. Jeff began asking his father for a drum kit and at the age of nine his father started him off with a snare drum. He quickly began to take drum lessons at school, joined his school band, and kept adding a piece at a time to his drum kit - eventually having a complete kit to perform with. His early days were spent playing with youth heavy metal bands but even at age 15, he became interested and started getting into fusion jazz. While in high school, Jeff was a member of a heavy metal band called Adversary and later spent a few years with a rock band called Tryptonite. Adversary was able to produce one CD and the band¹s popularity gained them a large following in the local heavy metal scene. Being a popular band among Boston¹s college campuses, the band¹s music would quite often be heard on WERS (Emerson College Radio Station). Suddenly, Jeff began to become less interested in heavy metal drumming, focussing much more on the playing of several session drummers like Billy Cobham and Dave Weckel. He began listening to other jazz greats like Coltrane, Myles Davis, Tony Williams, and Wayne Shorter. Jeff claims that he would also listen to some avant-guard stuff like Captain Beefheart who was one of the biggest and earliest influences on his music career. Jeff says, "Even though Beefheart wasn¹t a drummer, I loved the poetry of his music. It was the best known album of his called "Trout Mask Replica" that I would listen to over and over."

With his parents¹ influence, he entered Berklee and admittedly states that college was not something that he originally wanted to do. He quickly realized that this was the place where he would learn to become more than just an average drummer. He studied music theory, drumming, percussion, musical composition, and jazz form. Jeff raves about his drum teachers and how much influence they had on him. His first instructor, Pocono-based Jamie Haddad, is known for his brilliant percussion work with bands like the Paul Simon Band, the Dave Liebman Jazz Group, and the World Percussion Ensemble. Jeff says, "It was Jamie¹s effortless approach to drumming that helped me to see just what the potential was in drumming. He showed me how to structure the movement of drumming and how to perform with effortless execution." Another Berklee drum teacher was Dave DiCenso, a local who is known for his big sound, soulful style of drumming, and his recording accomplishments with Duran Duran, Johnny A, and contemporary jazz piano virtuoso, Hiromi. Jeff¹s mature personality sometimes borders the spiritual side of life and it¹s that spiritual essence that he brings forth and melds into his performances. He sees music as the freedom of internal expression and creativity. He says, "What¹s important for me is sometimes just letting what is within me musically at the moment to come out completely unobstructed." He claims to have an interest in and enjoys the primitive sounds of drumming and percussion that are often heard in other cultures and which can create certain effects that can move the human spirit to a higher level of awareness.

The man at the helm, bandleader and manager Steve DiCecco has carefully and intentionally crafted a band that notably carries a flavor of music that the band enjoys playing and their audiences love listening and dancing to any kind of dance. There¹s no way to mistake that blues is the band¹s music of choice but the different musical roots of each of its members shines through intentionally. Three years ago, Steve began hand picking his musicians and has made few adjustments to the line-up so far. His keenness to listening to instruments on stage as more of an ensemble than a band and his immense knowledge of the science and art of music have played into the professionalism and versatility that the band projects. Steve plays an incredible chromatic harmonica with what can be described as a jazzy blues sound. (For those who love the harmonica sound, there is a distinct difference between a chromatic harmonica versus a true blues harp which is called a diatonic harmonica. The chromatic, being the more difficult of the two to learn how to play well, is more melodic than the blues harp and gives the player a wider range of notes to play.)

Steve had an urge for playing any kind of instrument from a very early age. His requests for a guitar or a drum kit unfortunately could not be fulfilled because his family at the time couldn¹t afford either an instrument or lessons. Sometime during his mid-teens he was flipping through a magazine and came across an ad for a harmonica and instruction books. He realized that this was an affordable alternative and a way to satisfy the urge to play something musical. He claims to still have the quick success harmonica course books that came with his first harmonica, which now bear the color crayon marks made by a younger sister at the time. These books were much more than an instruction on how to play the harmonica; they were also an excellent training tool on how to read music. This would prove to be the beginning of an immense desire in him to not only play the harmonica well but to also understand the intricacies of music writing. As he got a bit older his focus was more on typical high school activities and getting a college education. The harmonica took a back seat until he approached the age of 30 and the desire to play emerged again. He picked up the diatonic harp and practiced enough to start playing out at blues jams. It was during this time period that Steve took a few harmonica lessons from local jazz harp legend Mike Turk (a direct disciple of Toots Thielmans). He quickly honed his blues harp skills and played the diatonic blues harp until 1992. Because he understood the mechanics of music and knew the limitations of the blues harmonica, he tried the chromatic harmonica knowing that it did not have the limits that the diatonic harmonica had and that it was a more versatile instrument with a full range of notes to play. Steve began to practice his chromatic skills at a jam running at a club in Inman Square called Cantare¹s, right near the old 1369 Club in Cambridge. He began to dabble in jazz harmonica playing and became more focused on further educating himself on music writing as well as intensely studying jazz form. He struggled for a few years and tried to get away from a his structured approach to playing chromatic and began to focus more and improve on improvisation, a skill that develops with time and is truly personal. With Cantare¹s closing in 1994, he made his way over to the blues jams on Sunday nights at Harper¹s Ferry which were being run by Chris Stoval Brown. It was from Chris that he learned how to run a jam effectively and how to match players in the correct manner. Steve states, "Chris had jam management down to a science and knew how to match players perfectly. He would often match me up with horn players who would teach me jazz because the two instruments are very much alike in what they do." Later, he began attending Monday jams at Wally¹s which at the time were run by Jose Ramos. Again, he was being matched up with a few sax players like Paul Ahlstrand and Gordon Beadle who more or less gave him personal attention and more training on music sounds and structure. He began to get hired by Jose for many gigs and in late 1998 finally put a band together called Stacy Rock and the Rhythms. Stacy was a phenomenal and professionally trained singer and theater major whom he and Jose Ramos accidentally discovered singing in a crowded audience at one of Jose¹s jams. For two years the band held tight until a music producer from New York recognized her extreme talent and hired her for jobs in New York City.

Shortly after the break up of Stacy Rock and the Rhythms, DiCecco would hook up with Liz Lannon and her band and the two soon after shared the duties of running a long-standing Sunday night jam at the Blue Train in Stoughton. Eventually they shared alternating weeks, Liz and her band sponsoring the jam one Sunday and Steve DiCecco and his newly forming band on the other. It was here that Steve began to hear and meet some incredible talent and where he began to skillfully form of one of Boston¹s best blues, rock, rhythm and blues, and jazz bands.

The Steve DiCecco Band has something to share with every audience and every age they play to. At their live performances you will find their mix of music styles to be a refreshing break and you¹ll also get a great night of overall entertainment. For those of you who love to dance, or just want to wander up on the dance floor and boogie the night away, the band¹s energy and music will overwhelm you. Shake your fall and winter blues and get out there and see for yourself. You can find the Steve DiCecco band every Sunday night hosting their open mic blues jam at Hajjar¹s in Weymouth, or view their upcoming gigs on the BBS website calendar.

The Steve DiCecco Band can be contacted at  http://www.stevediceccoband.com.