The Blues Project

One of the earliest album-focused underground acts to emerge in America, the Blues Project fused rock, blues, folk, pop, jazz, classical elements, and psychedelia into an electric sound during their short-lived peak in the mid-1960s. Although they performed plenty of blues-rock numbers, it would be misleading to label them strictly as such; instead, they functioned as a Jewish-American counterpart to UK ensembles such as the Yardbirds, drawing from blues and R&B foundations to pursue any style that captured their interest. Inconsistent songwriting ability combined with the absence of a standout lead singer kept them from joining the uppermost ranks of 1960s groups, yet they produced a substantial body of compelling work across their initial trio of albums until the exit of their most inventive personnel eroded the lineup.

Danny Kalb, who had contributed guitar to various Elektra folk and folk-rock sessions, assembled the Blues Project in Greenwich Village during the mid-1960s alongside Steve Katz, another guitarist who had performed with Elektra’s Even Dozen Jug Band, flutist and bassist Andy Kulberg, drummer Roy Blumenfeld, and vocalist Tommy Flanders. Al Kooper, already an experienced session musician in his early twenties, came aboard after participating in the band’s Columbia Records audition, though the group ultimately signed with Verve. Guitarist Artie Traum departed during initial rehearsals, while Flanders exited following their debut release, the 1966 live album Live at the Cafe Au-Go-Go.

The varied backgrounds of the musicians, rooted in folk, jazz, blues, and rock, shaped their broad repertoire. Tracks by Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry appeared next to interpretations of contemporary folk-rock songs from Eric Andersen and Patrick Sky, interspersed with original compositions. Kooper supplied most of these originals; he had previously established songwriting credentials by co-authoring Gary Lewis’ major hit “This Diamond Ring” and had gained recognition as a key figure in mid-1960s folk-rock through his work on Dylan’s recordings. His luminous organ playing further distinguished the band’s instrumentals.

Although their initial live recording remains somewhat restrained and conventional, the ensemble reached its strongest form on the late-1966 album Projections, their sole complete studio effort. They navigated conventional blues pieces with solid drive, yet excelled on folk- and jazz-tinged selections such as “Fly Away,” Katz’s graceful “Steve’s Song,” Kooper’s jazz instrumental “Flute Thing”—an underground radio staple and arguably their best-known track—and Kooper’s intense reworking of the Blind Willie Johnson classic “I Can’t Keep from Crying.” The non-album single “No Time Like the Right Time,” a pop-psych gem, stood as their finest achievement and one of the decade’s notable “hit singles that never were.”

Such stylistic diversity proved detrimental to long-term cohesion; Kooper departed in 1967 after clashing over musical direction, later noting that Kalb resisted his proposal to incorporate a horn section. Kalb then vanished for several months following a difficult acid experience, bringing the original configuration to an end. The third album, Live at Town Hall, emerged as an especially lackluster effort assembled from live recordings and studio remnants, some of which received overdubbed applause to simulate a concert setting.

Kooper realized his vision for soul-infused horn-driven rock by leading the original Blood, Sweat & Tears, though he exited after their debut; Katz remained with that group for an extended period. Blumenfeld and Kulberg sustained the Blues Project through a fourth album before forming Seatrain, while the band reunited in the early 1970s under shifting lineups, with Kooper returning for the 1973 live release Reunion in Central Park. Only the three albums from the Kooper era hold lasting significance; Rhino’s best-of compilation gathers their strongest tracks from that period. Founding member Danny Kalb died on November 19, 2022, in Brooklyn, New York, following a prolonged illness at the age of 80.