Mike Malone and The Soul Collectors

LOCAL BLUESMAN Mike Malone has tried many times to leave Long Beach and doesn't have an answer for why he keeps returning."I've lived all over but I keep coming back to Long Beach," Malone says. "I have never been able to escape the gravitation toward here. I just keep landing here. I've moved out a dozen times and keep coming back."

Malone, who performs with his soul and rhythm and blues band, the Soul Collectors, Sunday at the Pike Restaurant and Bar in Long Beach, grew up in Oakland but has lived in Texas and several other California cities. He has made a name for himself in the blues scene from his worldwide travels and performances as a vibe player and pianist with well-known artists such as Big Joe Turner, Mick Taylor and most notably Joe Houston, a saxophonist from Texas who is godfather to Malone's young son Mason.

Malone met Houston through performances at the now-defunct Hillside club, where he played with his previous band, the Lost Souls.

Houston didn't have a band when the two met but quickly put one together that lasted 12 years performing locally, nationally and internationally. Malone didn't play piano at the time, but Houston gave him the chance, an act of gratitude Malone is still thankful for.

"Joe Houston is my musical father," Malone says. "He let me learn on the job." Performing with Houston gave Malone the opportunity to do something he had always wanted to do — play the blues. The pianist discovered the blues by listening to a local radio station that played the songs late at night during the age of arena rock bands such as Styx and Journey. Malone has stuck with the blues because of his love of the music, but also because of some good advice from Houston.

"Blues is real cyclical," Malone says. "It comes in and out of fashion but it never goes completely away. Joe Houston said John Lee Hooker told him, 'You play blues, you always work.'

Malone and fellow Soul Collectors — drummer John "Dino" Guerrero, guitarist Victor Voce, bassist Michael Sunday, trombonist and trumpet player Walter Wagner and saxophonist Bob Crail — set themselves apart from other local blues acts by infusing a touch of soul and rhythm and blues music into their 12-bar turnarounds. Taking cues from acts such as Al Green, Otis Redding and other artists on the Memphis-based Stax record label gives the Soul Collectors smooth-sounding, danceable tracks reminiscent of the early days of rock 'n' roll, when the art form was new and free to experiment with different ideas. The blending of styles is perfect for Malone, who says soul music has always been close to his heart.

"We're all products of our influences," Malone says. "You are what you listen to and you always come back to what moved you and attracted you to music in the first place. My very first love, as a kid, was old Memphis soul."

The Soul Collectors' music is based on feelings, not calculated songwriting tactics, Malone says, which is why the singer/pianist knew drummer Guerrero would be a good fit, even if things didn't start off on the right foot. Guerrero's background is in jazz and rock music, a fact that came out at the group's first practice together.

"I came to rehearsal with these great big sticks I was using with rock bands," Guerrero says. "The minute I walked in I knew I was in over my head. We start playing and two bars into it, Victor, who I'm friends with now, stopped and looked at me and said, 'Get your brushes. This ain't a rock band." - Ryan Ritchie, Staff Writer NIGHT CRAWL, U-Entertainment, Long Beach Press-Telegram March 8, 2006