Blues Freepress- London, England
Performance Review Sugar Ray & The Bluetones @ Toronto's Silver Dollar Room
March 29, 2003- By John Taylor

Although he's been around for over thirty years now, New England-based Sugar Ray Norcia first gained attention as the lead vocalist for Roomful Of Blues, a position he held throughout the early nineties. Roomful's style, however (at least during this period, R&B-influenced and powered by one of the mightiest horn sections of all time) didn't leave a great deal of room for Ray to showcase his superlative harmonica skills. It wasn't until the first of Telarc's Superharp collaborations, putting Ray in the heady company of Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Branch, and James Cotton that his skills on the lickin' stick began to receive widespread acclaim.

Sugar Ray has since returned to his roots, re-forming his Bluetones with long-time cohorts Neil Gouvin on drums and bassist Michael "Mudcat" Ward; relative newcomer (and youngster) "Monster" Mike Welch now handles guitar chores. It was this configuration that recently wowed an appreciative – and pleasingly multi-generational – crowd at Toronto's premier venue, the Silver Dollar Room.

As a vocalist, Sugar Ray has a unique and instantly identifiable style, more croon than growl, smooth as silk yet infinitely expressive. His harmonica work is the equal of any, and he gave the harp-a-holics much to savour of the course of two long sets. Mr. Welch, who first garnered attention as something of a teenage phenomenon, proved his 'Monster' moniker apt, displaying both exquisite tone and dazzling execution.

The economics of the live music scene these days mean that all too often a touring headliner is backed by a local outfit; seeing the dynamics and interplay these gentlemen purveyed reinforced once again that there's simply nothing better than a well-rehearsed and road-tested band. Often Sugar Ray would roll right into the next tune before the last notes of the previous song had faded, at one point even catching Mike out on a guitar change, forcing him to play without a strap throughout the intro; yet the band were right there with him, handling the tricky changes with ease. And changes there were; Ray's songwriting, infused with a rare intelligence, renders the Bluetones material far above the usual same-old-same-old shuffle after shuffle.

Sugar Ray and The Bluetones have a brand-spankin'-new disc out on Severn Records; Ray claims it better reflects the sound of the band performing live than previous outings. For those who can't catch the group in person, it's highly recommended; there simply isn't a better working outfit on the circuit these days . . .