Danny Draher

Veteran Chicago guitarist Danny Draher's debut CD as a leader is a blues album
that sounds as good as it feels and vice versa. Draher touches on many of the
song types you'd expect from a bluesman: long, slow jams like the epic
"Don't Know Much," which features guest legends Dr. John on piano and
Bernard Purdie on drums; funkified numbers like "My Desire"; the slow,
crashing swing of "I Don't Know Why"; tasty jump blues like "Garlic & Onions"
; the rock-fortified "Disco Woman"; and arrangements that suggest
earthy, sloshy big-band swing, like "32nd & 3rd," where Chris Foreman provides
an especially brilliant Hammond organ solo and the group gives a clinic in
drawing high energy from a laid-back groove.

Recording all original songs was a good choice. Many blues artists mix covers with
originals, and too often the originals don't measure up in comparison, if only because
the well-known traditional songs are so deep in the bones of the blues audience.
Since Draher can write, play and sing well in all these blues modes I'm glad he lent
his skills to his own material.

A sideman of choice for the likes of Etta James and Allen Toussaint, and a musician
with a very long resume, Draher is a good singer who's obviously absorbed some of
the spirit of the great blues shouters: listen to "Goin' Home" for some of the best evidence.
But he makes his mark with his guitar, which speaks volumes, sometimes with few notes,
often with many, but always exactly the right amount, and each infused with human warmth.
His touch on the instrument is fluid but funky, deft but full-tilt, with plenty of tonal and
stylistic variety, drawing as he does from the whole tradition of blues- and
blues-inspired guitar, from jazz to pop, swamp to swing, Albert King to the Allman Brothers.

On most of these songs the only chordal instrument besides Draher's guitar is the
Hammond B3 organ (mostly played by the exquisite Foreman but with turns by other
excellent players as well). Drums and sometimes bass are the only other presences on
most tracks. Yet the small combos produce a wonderfully full sound because
Draher surrounds himself with musicians who play, as he does, with equal measures of
heart and skill. One of the best indicators of this is the beautifully syrupy instrumental
ballad "Love For You," which would sound perfectly at home on the dance floor at a
Long Island wedding. Listen carefully to Draher's and Foreman's solos, though, and
you'll always hear something that goes just beyond the common tropes and cliches.
In venturing their furthest from the blues, Draher and his group demonstrate best
their mastery of and love for it. At nearly 80 minutes long, this CD leaves you
wanting more, because it's just plain fun, and that's the ultimate test of a successful
(and in this case overdue) debut. - Jon Sobel, 2005/10/20 http://blogcritics.org

Whether it is jazz or blues, Danny can do it.  He can play.
                 
- Bob Porter, WBGO

Danny Draher has spent three decades building up a resume of musical associations in
Chicago and New York City that reads like an encyclopedia of the best in contemporary music. 
His credits as a sideman reflect a widespread reputation as an artist of talent, taste and versatility. 
  To his prodigious list of accomplishments, Danny can now add a sparkling
new CD, BIG FUN TONITE! showcases him on a program of shuffling, jazzy, funky and
slow blues vocals and instrumentals.  Not surprisingly, he’s in distinguished company
including Dr. John, drummers Bernard Purdie, Mike Clark and Greg Rockingham, bassist
Wilbur Bascomb and a trinity of “A” List organists from around the country: Chris Foreman,
Reuben Wilson and Everette DeVan.
   Equally distinguished are Danny’s own inventiveand expressive songwriting,
playing, singing, and producing which show that this showcase is as overdue as it is welcome.
With generous playing time and heart-pumping, soul-soothing and foot-tapping musical
excellence from start to finish, this CD means the listener doesn’t even have to go out in
order to have BIG FUN TONITE!
- Dick Shurman