The original Blues Project was the stuff of legends. Featuring an eclectic mix of New York City players drawn together by a desire to do something that brought together their diverse interests, the band created a well-regarded body of work, made their mark on pop culture and seemingly faded away. But the story never really ended. Led by founding member Roy Blumenfeld, the Blues Project comes to Club Fox on Aug. 27.
In 1965, Danny Kalb and Blumenfeld had been studying guitar with Dave Van Ronk, the celebrated “mayor of McDougal Street” in Greenwich Village. Kalb had founded a group that included bassist Andy Kulberg and Blumenfeld on drums. In short order, that group evolved into the Blues Project, featuring those three plus guitarist Steve Katz and vocalist Tommy Flanders. Producer Tom Wilson introduced the band to keyboardist Al Kooper, newly famous thanks to his organ work on Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” Kooper soon joined the group, and the Blues Project signed to Verve/Folkways.
Dubbed “the Jewish Beatles” by a local music critic, the band drew in part from the sum of its influences. Blumenfeld says that Kooper’s interest were pop and soul; Kulberg liked fingerpick-style guitar and blues. “Steve was into folk music and ballads,” Blumenfeld says. Kalb was a serious Muddy Waters fan. For his part, Blumenfeld was influenced both by African rhythms and Booker T & the MG’s. “And Tommy Flanders fashioned himself as a Mick Jagger kind of lead singer,” he says. “And he pulled it off.”
That mix gave the Blues Project a unique sound. “Those elements would be brought to all the tunes that we would play,” says Blumenfeld. The band’s first album, 1966’s Live at the Cafe Au Go Go, was a solid start, featuring mostly blues covers and standards. Flanders left the group shortly after its release. But the Blues Project’s second album—the critically acclaimed Projections, released later that same year—featured two songs written by Kooper and two more arranged by him. Everyone contributed: “Flute Thing” showcased Kulberg’s woodwind skills, and featured a Blumenfeld drum solo.
Yet by early 1967, Kooper would leave the group to form Blood, Sweat & Tears, so Live at Town Hall was pieced together from previously released singles and live recordings. One of those singles was “No Time Like the Right Time.” While it performed modestly on its original release, the track achieved immortality a few years later when the Lenny Kaye–curated Nuggets double LP included it among other garage rock classics.
While never a conventional pop group, the Blues Project nonetheless had a few brushes with pop culture beyond “No Time Like the Right Time.” In 1966, Wilson had hired the group for a one-off session, recording songs to cash in on the then-hot Batman craze. Released with the pseudonymous credit of The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale, Batman & Robin remains a fascinating curio.
Kooper hadn’t left the band yet, but was unavailable for the day’s session. So Wilson brought in a session keyboardist whom he had produced previously. Herman Blount—better known to the jazz world as Sun Ra—played organ on the tracks. Asked about the session today, Blumenfeld shrugs. “I remember playing a very basic, rock ’n’ roll kind of part,” he says. “But I don’t remember much about meeting Sun Ra.”
He does, however, have vivid memories of the Blues Project’s date at the landmark Monterey Pop Festival. Kooper was out of the group by that point, but he was one of the festival’s emcees. Blumenfeld says that Kooper convinced event organizer Lou Adler to add his old group to the bill.
“Coming to California was so different from the Lower East Side of New York,” he says, likening the experience to the 1951 science fiction classic When Worlds Collide. At the time, Blumenfeld felt that the concert took place in a huge stadium-type venue. “I’ve been back, 20 years later,” he says with a chuckle. “It’s not that big.” He holds fond memories of chatting with Cass Elliot, Grace Slick and Steve Miller Band drummer Tim Davis.
The original group folded shortly after Monterey, with some members regrouping as Seatrain. The Blues Project mounted a few reunions in the years to follow, releasing some worthwhile if modestly selling albums. But the group never really went away. In the 21st century, a lineup featuring Kalb, Katz and Blumenfeld toured. The band released a studio set, Evolution, in 2022.
That record featured Katz, who left soon thereafter. “He’s busy with his wife’s ceramic business now,” Blumenfeld says. Today the drummer—who relocated to California many years ago—is the leader (and sole founding member in the current lineup) of the Blues Project. The group features a coterie of top Bay Area players: Blumenfeld, guitarist David Aguilar, Ken Clark on keys and woodwinds, guitarist/mandolinist Mark Newman and bassist Tim Eschliman.
Blumenfeld says that the stylistic variety that has been a Blues Project core value remains central to the current configuration. He cites various influences including zydeco, worldbeat and Americana. All of those textures find their way into the band’s music, and coexist seamlessly in a live set that still includes “Flute Thing” and Kooper’s “I Can’t Keep from Crying.” The current band—playing those tunes plus 11 others—can be heard on Live 2025, set for release Aug. 22.
Roy Blumenfeld recently celebrated his 81st birthday. Asked what keeps the Blues Project interesting for him 60 years after its inception, he credits the quality of the players and the chemistry among them. Onstage, the band serves up subtlety and power in equal measure. “There’s frenetic jamming, too,” he emphasizes. “For an 81-year-old guy with drumsticks to beat his way through that—while singing, too—is pretty great.”
The Blues Project plays at 6pm on Aug 27 at Club Fox in Redwood City. Tickets: $13.38 on eventbrite.com.
