Music
Press
Featured Blues Review 9 of 10
Lee Delray - 570-Blues
JAC Records
Time-42:52
http://leedelray.com/
New York based Lee Delray is a solid addition to the blues-rock pantheon, although nothing unusual or innovative is on display here. Lee is in Possession of a rough-hewn voice and a vuluminous arsenal of guitar licks...the right tools for the job. His guitar playing can be forceful, mellow or funky, as each song dictates. His lyrics on this st of all original tunes cover the usual blues topics of mean women, lost love, etc. His reliable rhythm section is rough and ready, providing a sturdy foundation for his energetic and adventurous guitar explorations. John Scanlon's keyboards tend to serve as support low in the mix, only surfacing for the occasional solo.
Lee digs right in with "Walking In The Rain", abundant with his biting guitar and gruff vocals. The hard guitar attack continues on "Don't Know Why", which features the only organ solo of the set. The dilemma of being accused of not possessing the proper "blues credentials" is addressed in "Don't Tell Me I Can't Get the Blues". The narrator relates his hard times that gave him his "blues cred", although he didn't go through a hard southern upbringing. He backs up his assertion with a "hard as nails" vocal and guitar assault.
He slows down the pace on the soulful and funky "How Much I Love You". Rapid fire and tasty guitar are aplenty in "I Got It" and It's A little Too Late". The guy in "Need To Talk" needs to talk to his girlfriend until his girlfriend's best friend arrives on the scene. This tune is all done up as a shuffle and one of the few tunes featuring piano. A lazy piano intro kicks-off the slow shuffling "last call" blues of "House Of Love". As befits the pace of the song, Lee reverts to slower, but no less intense guitar riffing.
A Stevie Ray Vaughn inspired riff is the undercurrent of "No Time Blues", the longest song here, really giving him the oppurtunity to stretch out his guitar prowess to its' outer limits, spewing out licks with ease. Southern rock territory is breached on "She's Got Everything", bringing to mind the fluid guitar goodness of The Allman's, The Marshall Tucker Band and the rest of the Southern rock crop.
Lee and company handle the blues-rock idiom with a rough and ready ease, without straying too far from the blues source. The band are able to handle anything from the hard-edged end to the more mellow fare. Bands like this will proudly carry the blues-rock torch well into the future.
Reviewer Greg "Bluesdog" Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta.
- BLUES BLAST Magazine
Featured Blues Review 9 of 10
Lee Delray - 570-Blues
JAC Records
Time-42:52
http://leedelray.com/
New York based Lee Delray is a solid addition to the blues-rock pantheon, although nothing unusual or innovative is on display here. Lee is in Possession of a rough-hewn voice and a vuluminous arsenal of guitar licks...the right tools for the job. His guitar playing can be forceful, mellow or funky, as each song dictates. His lyrics on this st of all original tunes cover the usual blues topics of mean women, lost love, etc. His reliable rhythm section is rough and ready, providing a sturdy foundation for his energetic and adventurous guitar explorations. John Scanlon's keyboards tend to serve as support low in the mix, only surfacing for the occasional solo.
Lee digs right in with "Walking In The Rain", abundant with his biting guitar and gruff vocals. The hard guitar attack continues on "Don't Know Why", which features the only organ solo of the set. The dilemma of being accused of not possessing the proper "blues credentials" is addressed in "Don't Tell Me I Can't Get the Blues". The narrator relates his hard times that gave him his "blues cred", although he didn't go through a hard southern upbringing. He backs up his assertion with a "hard as nails" vocal and guitar assault.
He slows down the pace on the soulful and funky "How Much I Love You". Rapid fire and tasty guitar are aplenty in "I Got It" and It's A little Too Late". The guy in "Need To Talk" needs to talk to his girlfriend until his girlfriend's best friend arrives on the scene. This tune is all done up as a shuffle and one of the few tunes featuring piano. A lazy piano intro kicks-off the slow shuffling "last call" blues of "House Of Love". As befits the pace of the song, Lee reverts to slower, but no less intense guitar riffing.
A Stevie Ray Vaughn inspired riff is the undercurrent of "No Time Blues", the longest song here, really giving him the oppurtunity to stretch out his guitar prowess to its' outer limits, spewing out licks with ease. Southern rock territory is breached on "She's Got Everything", bringing to mind the fluid guitar goodness of The Allman's, The Marshall Tucker Band and the rest of the Southern rock crop.
Lee and company handle the blues-rock idiom with a rough and ready ease, without straying too far from the blues source. The band are able to handle anything from the hard-edged end to the more mellow fare. Bands like this will proudly carry the blues-rock torch well into the future.
Reviewer Greg "Bluesdog" Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta.
- BLUES BLAST Magazine
Discography
"570-BLUES"
2013
JAC Records
(845121059298)
1. Walking in the Rain
2. Don't Know Why
3. Don't Tell Me I Can't Get the Blues
4. How Much I Love You
5. I Got It
6. It's a Little Too Late
7. Need to Talk
8. House of Love
9. No Time Blues
10. She's Got Everything
Five Knuckle Shuffle
2005
S.M.D. Productions
Currently Out of Print
Photos
Bio
“THE NEXT GREAT BLUESMAN”… We didn’t write it folks… That is what Lee Delray has been referred to as by promoters and fans alike…
With over a quarter of a century under his belt and 14 years fronting his own band, Lee is causing quite the buzz on a national and international level.
In 2013, Lee Delray headlined the 4th Annual Blues Bash in Hackettstown, N.J., along with Blues/Rock Legend Johnny Winter.
He was also invited on as supporting act for “Superharp” James Cotton at The Stanhope House, N.J.
Lee’s cd “570-BLUES” is getting airplay in over 15 countries and over 40 US states, and rapidly building a worldwide fan base. Lee’s style has been called a ferocious mix of Albert King, Albert Collins, and Luther Allison. He has also been compared to more modern artists like Tommy Castro, Nick Moss, Joe Moss, Chris Cain, and Bryan Lee. If you enjoy any of these artists you will love Lee Delray.
Born in Florida and raised in N.Y.C., Lee started playing guitar at age 11 after finding an old flat top in a back corner of his garage. Lee gave up the guitar one year later for the drums after seeing a Krupa/Rich showdown on The Johnny Carson Show, but that didn’t last too long. Lee was captivated by a performance he saw of Alvin Lee & Ten Years After doing “I’m Going Home” on PBS, and begged his dad to buy him an electric guitar.
But that was not Lee’s earliest influence to perform. Delray remembers his dad taking him to see Pete Seeger perform on a Staten Island pier when he was about 7 years old. “ He seemed larger than life to me at that age”. “Actually… Pete seems larger than life to me at any age. Those concerts my dad took me to every year changed my life forever. I knew after seeing Pete for the first time that I wanted to sing and perform for people. He made people feel good. After all the pain I’ve been through in my life, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Make people feel good”, says Lee.
After spending his youth playing in bands ranging in styles from Rock-N- Roll to Punk, from Oldies to Country, Lee discovered the Blues. Or rather, the Blues discovered him via an old Muddy Waters Record given to him by a long time friend and fellow musician Duke Lee.
Lee talks a little about “Street Credit” and how he feels he was destined for the “Blues Life”. “My family lived in Staten Island suburbia surrounded by PTA meetings, Tupperware parties, and Monday night Mah-jong. But I wasn’t down with that. I hung out in the Park Hill Projects and on the streets of the “City” at all hours of the night. I was in and out of group homes till the age of 17. I was a graffiti artist, and I was there when Rap music was born. I’ve been shot at in East New York. I played guitar on the ferry boat and in Battery Park for change. I’ve dragged a Marshall Half Stack to auditions on and off every train in NYC. I’ve hung out with the Panthers in Harlem. I watched a “Wise Guy” beat a man half to death with a baseball bat, and I’ve been stabbed in the stomach and face going into a gig. The song “Don’t Tell Me I Can’t Get the Blues” is just the tip of the iceberg. Needless to say, I have a lot more stories to tell, so stay tuned”.
Delray notes his main influences in the Blues as…Albert King, B.B. King, Albert Collins, Jimmie Vaughan, Luther Allison, Jimmy Reed, Hound Dog Taylor, Eric Clapton, and Freddie King..
Lee also was very honored to have former bassist with The Mighty Bo Didley, Debby Hastings and Margo Lewis ( Bo Didley and founding member of Goldie and The Gingerbreads) as his “Showstopper” rhythm section. Lee toured with this lineup which also included “Papa” John Mole’ ( Otis Rush, Bill Perry Band) for 2 years.
Since forming his own band in 1998 Lee has played with or shared the bill with some of the finest musicians in the world of Blues from NYC all the way to Austin Texas and back.
This list includes…
Johnny Winter, Phil Guy , The Nutmeg Horns , Bobby Kyle (Johnny Copeland), Adam Nussbaum (John Schofield), Debby Hastings (Bo Didley), Margo Lewis (Bo Didley & Goldie and The Gingerbreads), Tom Holland (James Cotton Band), Slam Allen (James Cotton Band), Vito Luizzi ( Johnny Winter), Sean Chambers ( Blackfoot ), Eric Sardinas, Popa Chubby, Johnny Charles, Lucky Peterson, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Hubert Sumlin, and James Cotton.
A few quotes about Lee Delray…
“570-BLUES is much better than 95% of the self produced material submitted to me.” Bruce Iglauer, Alligator Records
“A guy as talented as this is bound to go places.” International recording artist, Eric Sardinas.
” Very strong player and vocalist.” Bluesleaf recording artist , Johnny Charles
“One Bad Mutha.” Slam Allen (James Cotton Band)
“Delray Rocks.” King of the New York City Blues, Popa Chubby.
“Great voice and songwriting.” Toshi Yanagi, The Jimmy Kimmel Band.
” One of the bright stars of the up and coming Blues musicians.” Dave Fields, Big City Blues
Links
