The Gregg Rolie Band Rain Dance Live
by Joe Mis
Staff Writer
So retro that it is actually cool! Rain Dance Live is an amazing concert recording by a bunch of veteran blues rockers led by legendary keyboardist / vocalist / producer Gregg Rolie. Rolie was a long time member of Carlos Santana’s band and a founding member of Journey (as well as founder of bands The Storm and Abraxas Pool). Gregg and band recorded this album while on tour in 2007. After giving this a listen it is obvious why Rolie was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Fans of Carlos Santana or Stevie Ray Vaughn won’t want to miss this one.
Many of the tracks on this album are song Rolie originally recorded with Santana – “Black Magic Woman,” “Evil Ways,” “No One To Depend On,” and “Oye Como Va.”
Most, if not all should be familiar to any rock fan – and these are really great “covers” – although “re-recordings” would be a more appropriate term since Rolie helped write and perform the originals. Rolie’s new original tracks keep the same vibe and groove, and make the album a cohesive one despite mixing old and new. All the songs are rich in percussion, organs, drums and guitar – and have a distinctly “Latin” flavor that goes beyond the occasional Spanish lyric.
The band is incredibly rich in talent and experience. Gregg Rolie sings lead, handles the keyboards and produces. Kurt Griffey’s guitars come close to stealing the show many times. Internationally acclaimed bassist and Santana band member Alphonso Johnson lays down some incredible grooves. and keyboardist Wally Minko (of Jean Luc Ponty’s band) provides another set of talented fingers. The amazing percussion is provided by the trio of founding Santana member Michael Carabello (congas), Adrian Areas (timbales), and drummer Ron Wikso (who co-produced the album).
The music is solid across the board, with the true standout tracks being “As The Years Go Passing By,” “Going Home,” “Across The Water” (awesome guitar solo) and “Black Magic Woman” (Rolie sang lead on the original with Santana all those years ago).
Gregg Rolie’s work on the production and engineering are fantastic for a live album. The vocals are clear and crisp, the instruments all come through with good balance and warmth save for a bit of washout in the middle ranges. Refreshingly, Rolie and his team do not allow crowd noises to dominate the production – in fact they are so subdued you won’t notice it except for the time between the tracks and during the band introductions.
All in all Rain Dance Live is a great recording for anyone who is into ’70s or early ’80s blues rock. Santana fans (or fans of good guitar rock in general) will love it. Highly recommended!
Label: Indie
Web: http://www.greggrolie.com/
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/greggrolieband
Track Listing:
01. Jingo
02. Going Home
03. No One To Depend On
04. As The Years Go Passing By
05. Evil Ways
06. Across The Water
07. Give It To Me
08. Soul Sacrifice
09. Black Magic Woman
10. Gypsy Queen
11. Oye Como Va
12. Bailamos El Son
HRH Rating: 9/10