![Jersey Blues Artist SaRon Crenshaw Releases his Debut Album "Drivin'"](https://www.newjerseystage.com/events2017/Drivin.jpg "Jersey Blues Artist SaRon Crenshaw Releases his Debut Album "Drivin'"")
Legendary blues guitarist and singer SaRon Crenshaw will release is first studio album, a two disc set featuring ten extended tracks, on OneTrickDog* Records on July 18th . The album, Drivin', contains all original material by Crenshaw composed over the last few years.
While Crenshaw is influenced by the likes of B.B. King, Albert King, Albert Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Buddy Guy, he describes his playing as “blues with a soul twist,” and Drivin' reflects this, incorporating influences from country-western music as well as R&B.
The inspiration for Drivin' came when Crenshaw bought a vintage Cadillac, which he says, “would run for two or three weeks before it predictably broke down, costing me a fortune.” The result was the title track, and a double record set of long format, live-feel blues, imagined to a backdrop of traveling the road with his beloved “Lucille” model Gibson (signed personally by B.B. King).
In the 70's and 80's Crenshaw made his living playing bass for several bands in New Jersey, New York and South Carolina. Throught his career, he has played with such legendary musicians as B.B. King and Robert Cray, has shared the stage with Denise Iasalle, Bobby Rush, Jessie James, Tyrone Davis and Chuck Robertson and was playing with Lee Fields and Roy Roberts before forming his own band, which is featured on this album. While he is currently on tour in Europe, Crenshaw plays regularly in the US at: Terra Blues Club, B.B. King Club, 55 Bar Christopher Street, the Shanghai Jazz Club and Smoke, among other blues venues and blues festivals. He was also asked to perform for former Vice-President Joe Biden. Drivin' follows his 2009 live album, Tight, Cranky & Loose.
Drivin' features Tom Larsen on rhythm guitar, James Odum on the bass guitar, Eric Finland on organ and piano, Jordan Rose on drums, and Wayne Tucker on trumpet. With the exception of horn parts, which were arranged and recorded at Avidon Audio Labs, the entire album consists of live, contiguous takes, done with no additional editing, overdubbing or pitch correction, and was mixed and recorded by producer/engineer Dev Avidon, using almost exclusively analog tools. The resulting sound stays true to the performance feel of live blues.
Crenshaw has consistently been described in superlatives:"He has presence and rapport to match the likes of Luther Allison and Eric Bibb...his voice is equal to any Atlantic soul singer - its richness, depth, and expression is astonishing."- (www.harpsurgery.com)
OneTrickDog* is a small independent label specializing in jazz, fusion and blues. The members are a collective of recording artists, sound designers, engineers, arrangers and composers. The label is affiliated with Avidon Audio Labs, which has tracked, mixed and mastered numerous contemporary jazz, classical and blues albums. Dev Avidon, the senior engineer at AVAL, has also produced a number of the artists on OneTrickDog*. Recent albums include Tom Larsen's Loving/Losing, Wayne Tucker's When I Was a Child, and Peruvian drummer Juan Carlos Polo's Insomnio.
In 2017, OneTrickDog* released jazz pianist Ben Rosenblum's debut trio album Instead (with Grammy winning bassist Curtis Lundy and legendary drummer Billy Hart) to critical acclaim in Europe and the United States, including four stars from DownBeat Magazine. Scheduled 2017 releases include SaRon Crenshaw's first studio blues album, Drivin' (which has already received enthusiastic press in Europe), Wayne Tucker's second jazz/fusion album (including hip hop artist Mark Nieves), jazz vocalist Astrid Kuljanic's TransAtlantic Exploration Company (to debut at Carnegie Hall), and Americana artists The Good Morning Nags. In 2018, they hope to release new material from gypsy guitarist Michael Sheridan, and from renowned fusion drummer Winard Harper.
