BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS

t’s been more than four decades since drummer/producer Bobby Colomby and friends assembled the first group to successfully blend rock and jazz into a genre-crossing sound and style.So successfully, in fact, that the band’s second album, Blood, Sweat & Tears, topped the Billboard charts, beat out the Beatles Abbey Road for Grammy Album of the Year, and produced three major hit singles“You Made me so Very Happy”, “Spinning Wheel”, “And When I Die”. But now Colomby is looking for much more as he develops the New Blood Sweat & Tears into a contemporary voice, one that reaches beyond a single, nostalgic audience. “I no longer want to target just one generation,” he says.“That would be a mistake. With this updated version, I want to gain a wider audience.I want people, of all ages, to come and say, ‘I have to bring more friends here; they’ve got to see this band.” Will the New Blood, Sweat & Tears have any of the original members? “Not a chance,” says Colomby.“When you’re at a Yankee game you do not expect to see Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.They’re not going to be there.But what you will see is a top-notch brand, the pinstripes, and the best possible combination of players on the field to represent the Yankee legend.So that when the Yankees play magnificently and win, no one’s going to say, “Where’s the Bambino:Where’s Mickey Mantle?” So, too, with the New Blood, Sweat & Tears, which began to come into focus when Colomby first heard South African-raised singer David Aldo. “He’s a singer/songwriter,” says Colomby, “ and as I heard him perform I thought, how perfectly his style works with “God Bless the Child” and “Spinning Wheel” and “You Made Me So Very Happy.”But in a very contemporary way.” Colomby also describes the instrumental players chosen for the New Blood, Sweat & Tears in glowing terms.“The band, man for man, pound for pound, is better than the original B, S & T.,” he says.“Without a doubt.They’re a ridiculously talented bunch,The drummer’s better than I am, or was.” Strong praise, coming from a musician/producer/manager who knows a winner when he sees it.Colomby’s resume includes initiating significant career achievements for Jaco Pastorious, the Jacksons and Harry Connick Jr., among others .As well as his management and production of trumpeter Chris Botti – currently the America’s most successful instrumentalist . “The original B, S &T,” adds Colomby, “was designed to introduce jazz to pop music.That was my passion… it still is and will be with the New Blood, Sweat & Tears.Always mindful that the presentation must be on a very high musical level. ” Toward that end, the New Blood, Sweat & Tears band will perform their hits with spirit, excitement and with steller musicianship.The band will also introduce some new elements into every performance, including a segment devoted to “Songs We Wish We’d Recorded,” done in classic B,S & T style. Bobby Colomby’s enthusiastic comments underscore his excitement about the future. The arrival of the New Blood, Sweat & Tears is the next chapter in a musical tale that stretches from the creativity and turbulence of the late ‘60s to the swiftly changing world of the 21st century.The next invigorating phase in the continuing adventures of B, S & T is about to begin. Past BS&T Alumni: Chris Albert, Don Alias, Dave Bargeron, Randy Bersen, Randy Brecker, Forrest Buchtel, Bruce Cassidy, Bobby Colomby, Jim Fielder, Barry Finnerty, Vern Dorhge, Bobby Economou, Joe Giorgianni, Dick Halligan, Jerry Hyman, Steve Katz, Steve Khan, Tony Klatka, Fred Lipsius, Tom Malone, Lou Marini jr, Richard Martinez, Ron McClure, Jaco Pastorius, David Piltch, Robert Piltch, Earl Seymour, Mike Stern, Neil Stubenhaus, Lew Soloff, Bill Tillman, Georg Wadenius, Jerry Weiss, Larry Willis, Chuck Winfield, David Clayton-Thomas, Al Kooper, Jerry Fisher, Jerry LaCroix. Plus many more great musicians.