Al Kooper January 17, 2007

Genre: Al Kooper - Rock Guitarist, Organist, Iconoclast, Extraordinaire

Related Artists: Bob Dylan, Blood Sweat & Tears, Blue Project.

Latest Release: Black Coffee (2005)

Tonight is a real chance to see and hear a legend! Al will be performing solo.

If you have been paying attention to popular music over the last fifty years, you have heard the sound and style of Al Kooper. Kooper played the signature organ riff on Dylan’s "Like a Rolling Stone", the Stones’ "You Can’t Always Get What You Want", Hendrix’s "Long Hot Summer Nights", The Who’s "Rael". He has also made a significant impact with his work in numerous bands and solo efforts.

Kooper’s first band, The Royal Teens, had a Top Five Hit with with the tune "Short Shorts" in 1958 and a Top 30 hit a year later with "Believe Me." He played in the Blues Project, with guitarist Danny Kalb, bassist Andy Kulberg, guitarist Steve Katz, and drummer Roy Blumenfeld. The Blues Project helped spearhead the 60's urban blues sound, and three massively important and critically acclaimed albums coincided with his year-long stay. He then started the highly acclaimed Blood, Sweat, and Tears, and performed on their first album, Child is Father To Man.

In the 1980’s after meeting producer/director Michael Mann, he scored his Crime Story TV series. Kooper wrote original music and chose source music for each episode from his vast record collection, giving the show it's 60's noir feel. He also did music for the Emmy Award-winning miniseries, The Drug Wars as well as producing some of the soundtrack for the John Waters film "Cry Baby."

During the 70’s Kooper also produced records by the Tubes, B.B. King, Nils Lofgren, and Joe Ely, among others. He is also an influential songwriter and studio engineer, starting with "This Diamond Ring," performed by Gary Lewis and the Playboys. It has now exceeded it's 3-millionth radio performance.

What may go down as his greatest contribution to music is for signing Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Zombies, and Richard Thompson . In an issue devoted to The 500 Greatest Recordings of All Time, Rolling Stone magazine included 12 albums with serious participation by Al. Kooper remains a formidable performing talent, and one of the most inspired and intelligent people in rock music.

"Black Coffee is Al Kooper's first new recording of solo material in more than 30 years. While Kooper, rock music's most infamous polymath, has never been entirely idle (he has continued to sporadically produce, write, arrange, perform, and hustle), he has been living in semi-retirement in Nash Vegas since the 1990s and this is a major re-entry. The good news is that Black Coffee is a heady brew of loose, rootsy rock, soul, and funky R&B. Kooper and "the Funky Faculty" - drummer Larry Finn, guitarist Bob Doezma, and bassist Tim Stein - along with some select guests, turn up the inspiration dial to 10 and cut loose with a batch of solidly written originals that accent the gritty, immediate and timeless heart of a popular music that hasn't been so in decades, and a couple of crafty covers." - Thom Jurek, All Music

For more information, visit www.alkooper.com

Official Website: http://www.tripledoor.com/event.aspx?eid=1955&venue=mainstage