L.A.-Based
Keyboardist/Singer/Songwriter on Tour This Summer and Fall with Solo Dates as
Well as With Rock Legend, John Fogerty
LOS
ANGELES, CA – Bob Malone, who has toured the world for two decades as a solo
artist, as well as played keyboards in rock legend John Fogerty’s band since
2011, announces the release of his new CD, Mojo Deluxe, on Delta
Moon Records, distributed nationally by Burnside Distribution. Bob Malone will
support the release of Mojo Deluxe with a number of solo dates
that showcase his unique
hybrid of rock, blues and New Orleans R&B, delivered with high-energy piano
virtuosity and a voice all his own. Shows include two weeks in the northeast in August, followed
by southern dates in September and almost a month in the UK in October. Malone
will also be doing more tour dates as a member of John Fogerty’s band as well.
Mojo Deluxe is the eighth solo album for Bob Malone, who was
classically trained, holds a degree in jazz and has played a lifetime of shows
at rock and roll clubs, theatres and arenas. Born and raised in New Jersey, he
has lived in New York City, New Orleans and Boston, and is currently based in
Los Angeles. Playing an average of 100 tour dates a year, he has shared stages
with Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Rickie Lee Jones, The
Neville Brothers, Rev. Al Green, Dr. John and many others. As a solo artist,
Bob tours the US, UK, Europe and Australia extensively, including sets at Glastonbury Music Festival and
Colne Blues Festival in the UK; Long Beach Bayou Fest, Falcon Ridge Folk Fest
in the US; plus the Blue Mountains Music Fest and Narooma Blues Fest in
Australia. At the world-famous New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival, he has twice played the legendary WWOZ Piano Night.
The even-dozen tracks on Mojo
Deluxe feature the wide-breadth of Malone’s musical knowledge and
include exiting originals, as well as cool covers of songs by Ray Charles
(“Hard Times”) and Muddy Waters “She Moves Me”). The sound is a perfect gumbo
of dirty blues, classic rock & roll and New Orleans piano pyrotechnics.
It’s where Bob Malone stomps his foot on a miked-up cigar box, rips on a funky
old upright piano and a vintage Wurlitzer and sings fearlessly of life at the
halfway point. It’s loaded with deep grooves, swamp rock, gospel-drenched
ballads and plenty of nasty slide guitar. The all-star band backing him on the
new CD includes harmonica player Stan Behrens (WAR), bassist Tim Lefebvre
(Tedeschi-Trucks Band), drummer Mike Baird (Journey, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker),
producer/guitarist Bob DeMarco and drummer Kenny Aronoff, Malone’s Fogerty
bandmate. The album was recorded at several studios in the Los Angeles
area, as well as in New York City.
Bob Malone offered insights into
some of his songs contained on Mojo Deluxe:
“Certain Distance” - “I am an introvert,
and a loner. I have always felt a little bit separate from my fellow humans.
Most people - even the ones who know me well - take it personally. Which has
always amazed me. So once and for all, I want you all to know it’s not you -
It’s me. Now leave me alone.”
“I’m Not Fine” – “When people ask me how
I’m doing, I say: “fine!” “great!” “never been better!” It’s the American way -
nobody likes a complainer! But lately it’s been getting a lot harder to fake
it. To be honest: I’m not fine. Thanks for asking.”
“Paris” – “When I tour Europe, I usually
play Paris, and my wife, of course, likes to go there with me. When we are
there together, it is terribly romantic and we sincerely feel we are in the
finest place on earth. But the last time I played Paris, I went alone, and when
you’re there alone, Paris is just a city full of French people. Smoking. And
when the waiter gives you that Gallic arch of the brow when you ask about a
table for one, you just can’t wait to go home.”
“Watching Over Me”- “It took me 25 years
to write this song. In the early ‘90s I moved to Los Angeles from the east
coast and before long I had a few gigs with country music legend Freddy Fender.
There was this one show in Las Vegas and I completely underestimated how much
gas money I would need to get there in my aging piece-of-sh*t Dodge van. By the
time I arrived, my gas tank was empty, as was the half-pint of cheap whiskey in
my glove box. I had no functioning credit cards, no money in my bank account
and the gig paid by check. With nothing left to lose, I took the one single
dollar I had left to my name and put it in a slot machine. I won two-hundred
bucks. To this day, that’s really the only spiritual experience I’ve ever had.
I’m still not a religious man, but I have to wonder…”
“Chinese Algebra” – “I always wanted to
write something that would contain all of the eclectic elements of my piano
playing in one coherent piece of music and discourage bad harmonica players
from asking to sit in with the band. This is the result.”
“Can’t Get There From Here” – “I am
Generation X, and I am middle-aged. And like every generation before, I can’t
believe how fast it happened. I’ll spend the second half of my life trying to
undo the damage done in the first half of my life. And maybe, in the end –
redemption.”
In addition to releasing albums
on his own and playing on scores of others as a session player and singer, Bob
Malone played on the 2012 John Fogerty album, Wrote A Song For Everyone, including Fogerty’s duets with Bob Seger, Miranda
Lambert and Keith Urban. Bob’s TV appearances with John Fogerty included “The Late Show with David
Letterman” and “The View.” His own music is heard regularly on “Dr. Phil,” “Entertainment
Tonight” and
“The Rachel Ray Show.” Malone’s albums have earned Top-20 spots on the Living Blues, Roots Music Report and Earshot radio charts, and are played on
stations worldwide, including Sirius/XM’s Bluesville, BBC Radio 2, Jazz-FM
London and NPR’s Acoustic Café.
Kurzweil Music Systems chose Malone to make the demo
videos for their new Forte digital piano, and he is endorsed by QSC Audio, Hammond Organ and Fishman Acoustic Transducers.
“Pulsating, roaring keyboard
work that grabs you and shakes you until you cry for mercy.”- Keyboard Magazine
“John Fogerty’s five-man
backup band was slouch-free, too — with the show-stealer trophy going to a
shaggy-haired Bob Malone”- Edmonton
Journal
“Malone’s latest shows off
everything that makes him great and more. Great songs, amazing production and
playing, it doesn’t get much better than this.” - Filter
“If he could find a way to
throw that Steinway grand over his shoulder the way a hot dog guitar player
does, I think he would.” - NOLA Defender
“[Malone] showed that while
he is a fantastically technically accomplished player, he fully knows the
meaning of showmanship as well. A true virtuoso and crowd-pleaser.” Shetland News
Bob
Malone will also release a DVD later this summer that contains many of the
songs on Mojo Deluxe.
