Roomful of Blues

Roomful of Blues is currently an eight-piece unit led by guitarist Chris Vachon and featuring long-time tenor and alto sax player Rich Lataille.

Recent members are trumpeter Christopher Pratt, bassist John Turner and drummer Mike Coffey, joining on baritone and tenor saxophonist Craig Thomas and keyboardist Jeff Ceasrine.

[4] They soon began exploring the swinging, jumping blues, R&B and jazz of the 1940s and 1950s, and added a horn section (including Rich Lataille) in 1970.

In 1974, they performed with Count Basie, and a few years later songwriter Doc Pomus helped them land their first record deal, and produced their debut with co-producer Joel Dorn.

Singer Lou Ann Barton joined the band at this time, sharing vocals with sax man Greg Piccolo.

In 1994, they released Dance All Night, their first featuring guitarist Chris Vachon (who joined the band in 1990) and harpist/vocalist Sugar Ray Norcia.

[6] 1997 saw a sizable turnover in personnel, with five members departing; vocalist/harpist Sugar Ray Norcia, keyboardist Matt McCabe, bassist "Doc" Grace, baritone saxophonist Doug "Mr. Low" James, and trombonist Carl Querfurth left and were replaced by, respectively, vocalist McKinley "Mac" Odom, keyboardist Al Weisman, bassist Marty Ballou, baritone saxist Kevin May, and trombonist/bass trombonist John Wolf.

King, Otis Rush and Stevie Ray Vaughan to rockers Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana.