19.05.12

It's the same all over: everybody's got the blues. Every major metropolis, jerk-water burgh, or wide spot in the road has its share of legends, mavericks, and mainstays. There's no shortage of guitar slingers, harp blowers, and howlers. But not every town has a band capable of such nonchalant elegance and ease as Rochester's The Electro Kings.

Since 2000 this band has worked the local club scene with its take on classic blues, in particular that era when the blues was getting more and more rambunctious. The music calls back to the time when rock 'n' roll first reared its head, still not ready for prime time. An era of twilight between Howlin' Wolf and Elvis Presley. An era that spawned everything - like The Electro Kings.

"As Muddy Waters said," says Electro Kings front man, Luca Foresta, "the blues had a baby and named it rock ‘n' roll.'"

Harmonicat-crooner Foresta cuts a mean two-tone, gabardine profile beneath the crown in this electro kingdom. His harmonica is clearly a homage to Little Walter. He sings casual and cool, but in such a way that carries as much wallop as Big Joe Turner used to, howling with the band from across the room. On any given night, in the gin joint du jour, the walls could be dripping with the dance floor's steam heat. Yet The Electro Kings hardly break a sweat; unruffled, their hair remains perfect. Foresta - and the whole band for that matter - makes it look good, and makes it look easy. And it's the little joints where the band shines.

Source: Rochester City Newspaper