Whelan: The Story of Ike Dupree

photo: J Henry Fair

The second coming of NY blues guitarist Sid Whelan happened in 2012 when he stepped in as a last minute replacement at a gig of his niece, the NPR award-winning singer/songwriter Lora-Faye. He had enjoyed a bit of success on college radio in the early Eighties as an indie artist, but he had given up on music since then. Being back on stage got his creative juices flowing again. He put together a band and they released an Americana album in 2013, Flood Waters Rising, that got considerable good press.

Whelan is ready for the next step with the new album The Story of Ike Dupree. He got trombone ace Fred Wesley of James Brown fame to write the arrangements for a sizeable brass section, giving the songs a depth and warmth that brings back the heyday of late Sixties soulful blues with a jazz twist. His slightly hoarse voice fits the songs like a glove. He is a story teller spinning tall tales of life on the road, interspersed with real life up and downs.

The Story of Ike Dupree is an album for fans of Al Green, Mike Bloomfield, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Backed by an old school kick ass band, this is the kind of music that should be coming from a tiny stage of a bar that has the guts to put on live music and whose owner laughs at the concept of curfew. Late night music that you don't want to end.

Sid Whelan: vocals, guitar
Capathia Jenkins: backing vocals
Robbi Hall Kumalo: backing vocals
Darryl Tookes: backing vocals
Fred Wesley: trombone
Alan Ferber: trombone
Victor Wesley: trombone
Eleazar Shafer: trumpet
Ron Horton: trumpet
Phillip Whack: saxophone
Michael Blake: saxophone
Michael Lee Breaux: saxophone
Randy Weinstein: harmonica
Richard Huntley: drums & clave
Mark Manczuck: Congas, djembe, bongos, shaker, bell, tambourine
Marco Panascia: bass
Jerry Z: organ & piano