Johnny I. Band -- Johnny I. All Star Blues Revival EP

I've been enjoying this EP for long enough--I should share this gem with you as well. This little EP has three songs which were written by the team of John A. Ingrassia and his father John E. Ingrassia.
Johnny A. plays guitar on all the songs. Johnny E. sings on two songs and plays bass on one. They play just fine, but the real treat is the rest of the musicians. An impressive group--on "Avery's Tune" Johnny A. and Johnny E. are joined by Glen Graham (from Blind Melon) on drums, and Doug Ferrara on Hammond B3 organ. It is mixed by Brad Smith (also from Blind Melon). This instrumental starts things off with a bang! The guitar on this track is strong--it clearly illustrates that Johnny I. has a fine melodic style, and he can also rip it up when that is needed. It starts out sounding a little bit like Blind Melon, but about halfway through the song Graham's drums break in and right after that things get moving in the right direction.

The next song is "Life Is Better ( 2nd Time Around) "  and here Johnny I. (guitar) and Johnny E. (vocals) are joined by Billy Cox on bass (yes, that Billy Cox--he played with Jimi Hendrix) and Chris Layton on drums and Reese Wynans on the Hammond B3 organ (both from Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble). Johnny E.'s vocals are quite good--he reminds me a little of Doyle Bramhall, but without Bramhall's Texas accent. The rhythm section pushes the pocket and Johnny I. on guitar doesn't try to imitate SRV--he just plays great from beginning to end. Wynans on organ here is very good--he fills everything out with style. A fine song. Mixed By Jim Gaines.

The third song is "Late Nite," and it is probably my favorite of them all. Here Johnny I. (guitar) and Johnny E. (vocals) are joined by Bruce Katz on Hammond B3 organ, Tommy Shannon on bass (Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble), and Jaimoe on drums (The Allman Brothers). This song features strong work by Bruce Katz at the opening before Johnny I. does some great (but brief) stringbending fretwork before the vocals and the rhythm section take it away. The vocals are good. This song is also mixed by Jim Gaines.  

I really like this EP, and I think all three songs are strong solid work in a rock/blues style. Johnny I. says in an email that he is in rehearsals with Jaimoe and writing to add more songs.