Blues in the Dark (1991)

Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers play barroom blues with supper-club flair. The relaxed, swinging quality of their music on Blues in the Dark starts with the fluid bounce of the rhythm section, continues with the sturdy support of guitarist Alex Schultz and pianist Honey Alexander, and is rounded off by Piazza's exquisitely understated blues harp. Even when he wails, Piazza doesn't entirely lose his cool. When, on a couple of tunes, his workmanlike vocals don't infuse old blues attitudes with new life, Piazza still dazzles us with the supple beauty of his harp. It never lets him down.