Anthony Geraci - Why Did You Have To Go (2018)

It’s been said often that one’s reputation is determined by the people one picks as friends and collaborators. If true, then count Anthony Geraci as one well respected musician. Geraci has spent most of the last four decades climbing into the rarified air of the blues. In the nascent days of the 1970s Boston blues scene, Geraci learned from keyboard mentors like David Maxwell, Ron Levy, and Al Copley who thrived in the New England blues scene back in the early 1970s. Next, Geraci was the first to play keys with Ronnie Earl’s Broadcasters and Sugar Ray Norcia’s Bluetones. Throughout the decades, Geraci’s dedication to mastering the intricacies of the blues piano burned in his soul, which led to Geraci searching out elders in the genre like Pinetop Perkins and Henry Gray to assimilate the traditions into modern outlooks.
The most important lesson Geraci absorbed is surrendering the individual to the will of the music. In all his previous recordings, especially his 2015 critically acclaimed Fifty Shades Of Blue (Delta Groove,) Geraci understands the artistic power of sharing the spotlight with an all-star cast of backing musicians.
"Why Did You Have To Go" follows that same blues print. Each song features Geraci enlisting an outstanding cast of artists to paint his musical landscapes. Geraci’s West meets East blues features past members of the Mannish Boys – Kid Ramos (guitar), Willie J. Campbell (bass), Jimi Bott (drums), Sugaray Rayford (vocals)– on five tunes while the Bluetones – Monster Mike Welch (guitar), Troy Gonyea (guitar), Sugar Ray Norcia (vocals), Michael Mudcat Ward (bass), and Neil Gouvin (drums) – blend with New Englanders Ronnie Earl (guitar), Michelle “Evil Gal” Willson (vocals), Brian Templeton (vocals), Dennis Brennen (vocals), Marty Richards (drums), Sax Gordon (sax), Doug Wolverton (trumpet) on six tunes. Including Geraci, count how many Blues Music Awards and nominations this talented roster has amassed. The real fun comes when Geraci shuffles the players from each coast to ignite the session.
Most exciting is the reunion of the original Sugar Ray and the Bluetones on Geraci’s “My Last Goodbye.” At nearly ten minutes of unhurried, emotional blues, the song spotlights Earl’s sharp phrasing combining with Geraci’s tight, Chicago blues keyboard lines that crest to stirring crescendos that ebb and flow into fresh musical vistas. The Bluetones also reunite on the up-tempo “Time’s Running Out.”
The unexpected surprise is the after hours testifyin’ on “Baptized In The River Yazoo,” an intimate duet featuring Texan blues force Willie J. Laws bearin’ witness to Southern folk lore as Geraci’s lonely piano floats out of cotton field churches.
In his performance of various piano styles, Geraci presents listeners with a concise history of the piano in American roots music. From New Orleans-styled R&B – “Long Way Home” – to stylish West coast – “Angelina, Angelina” – to Texas organ trio – “Don’t The Grass Look Greener” – to Chicago blues – “My Last Goodbye” – to the more modern Blue Note inspired “A Minor, Affair” – Anthony Geraci is right in step with his blues. ~Art Tipaldi – Editor, Blues Music Magazine