Video from The Mississippi Valley Blues Fest

BluesWax Sittin' In With Alexis P. Suter

Women in Jazz

The Long Island Blues Society Newsletter

Let's ramble
The Alexis P. Suter Band will once again perform at Levon Helm’s studios for a
‘Ramble’ in Woodstock

By John W. Barry June 13, 2007
Poughkeepsie Journal

Elmore Magazine Article
The Alexis P. Suter Band Live At The Midnight Ramble
May, 2007
by: Kay Cordtz

THE ALEXIS P. SUTER BAND
Live At the Midnight Ramble
CD LHSO4

Blues Revue Magazine May, 2007


Alexis P. Suter has a big voice and knows how to use it. Whether singing about
spiritual ecstasy or earthly troubles, her booming contralto, seasoned with raw emotion
and wide streak of attitude, make every song she performs her own. Suter
and her top-notch band, who together write most of their own material,
regularly open Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles, twice-monthly house parties
at Helm’s home and studio in Woodstock NY, where all the tracks on this CD/DVD package were recorded last year.

Suter is wounded and passionate on “That You Can,” before turning playful and flirtatious for “Teacher Man,“ Numerous artists have covered Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927" since Hurricane Katrina struck, but Suter does it justice here, literally weeping with heartbreak and fury. The songs are elevated by her band’s stellar performances. Highlights include Jimmy Bennett’s cutting guitar work on “Do What You Do”; Bruce Katz’s sparkling piano on “Leaving is the Hardest”; the hypnotic groove by drummer Ray Grappone and bassist Peter Bennett that begins “Hole That I’m In”; Jay Collins’ flute and saxophone work on “Plain Folks”; and just about every line by Suter’s backup vocalists. The distinctly individual voices of Vicki Bell, Amy Helm and Glenn Turner and the jazzy texture of their harmonies, perfectly counterpoint Suter’s vocal fire. They really work it on “Ride, Ride,” a woeful tale of a plus-sized citizen’s tribulations on New York’s public transportation system.

The bonus tracks are special treats: Willie Dixon’s “Built for Comfort,” features Little Sammy Davis’s nervy harp and wild New Orleans-style piano by Brian Mitchell, and “Precious Lord” is sublime. An accompanying DVD introduces the uninitiated to the ambiance of the Midnight Rambles, where powerful performances are delivered just a few feet away from every seat in the house.

January, 2007
Levon Helm Studios proudly presents:
THE ALEXIS P. SUTER BAND, “LIVE AT THE MIDNIGHT RAMBLE,”
a new CD/DVD available exclusively at levonhelm.com.

When she takes the stage there’s a change in the air, as if something explosive is about to happen ~ and then comes that VOICE!!
Mr. B.B. King says, "It's a rare thing to share the stage with great talent like that young lady."
Rob Bartlett from the “Imus In The Morning Show” calls her “a legend in the making.”

THE ALEXIS P. SUTER BAND, “LIVE AT THE MIDNIGHT RAMBLE,” CD/DVD is a tour-de-force of rock, soul and blues featuring Alexis’ fiercely rich, penetrating vocals backed by a dynamic, blistering band. Both discs capture her powerful live performances with music that, effortlessly and literally, moves the hearts, souls and bodies of her audience!

Along with the songs featured on the DVD, there are three bonus audio tracks, including a cover of Willie Dixon’s “Built for Comfort,” featuring Alexis with the Levon Helm Band.
Keep your eyes and ears open. Shooting stars can only be seen if you’re paying attention!

This project was produced and recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New
York. “The Midnight Rambles,” where The Alexis P. Suter Band performs regularly, are a series of live shows open to the public, hosted by Levon Helm at his barn/studio. For more information about The Alexis P. Suter Band and “The Midnight Rambles,” please go to alexispsuter.com and levonhelm.com.

GET A HALLOWEEN ‘SHUGA FIX’ AT THE BLUE POINT BREWING COMPANY

Long Island Advance Oct. 26, 2006

A rising star in the Blues world will thrill Halloween partygoers at the Blue Point Brewing Company in Patchogue Friday night. Brooklyn’s Alexis P. Suter and her band of top-flight musicians will play two sets between 7:30 and 11:30 pm.

Suter is a powerhouse singer with a deep, rich voice and a soulful, worldly-wise demeanor -- a lowdown Mahalia Jackson with the face of a wide-eyed cherub. She has wowed Long Islanders in years past at appearances at the Riverhead Blues Festival and at local club shows with Kerry Kearney’s band. More recently, she has been a regular at Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles at the rock legend’s home and studio in Woodstock, and has opened for Etta James and B.B. King himself at the B.B. King’s Blues Club in New York City. A church choir gospel singer since childhood, Suter is well known on the dance music scene, where she has had several hit singles like “Slam Me Baby” and “You Don’t Know.” But her real gift is for music that stirs emotion.

“I sing about big time life experiences,” she says.

Since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans last summer, Suter has often included Randy Newman’s gorgeous “Louisiana 1927” in her set list. At the Riverhead Blues Festival last July, singing the song moved her to tears and a good portion of her audience wept along with her. But she can also evoke the pure joy of life in songs like “Teacher Man” and “Ride, Ride, Ride” from her latest CD, Shuga Fix on Hipbone Records. Suter’s band is composed of talented veterans of the blues, jazz and Broadway music scenes. On guitar and bass, Jimmy and Peter Bennett brought Suter to performing blues music. Drummer Ray Grappone and his wife, singer Vicki Bell, met in A Chorus Line and are known for their groovy style of jazz/rock/electronica fusion music.

Suter and her band write many of the songs they perform, and are at work on a new studio album. They will also soon release a live CD and DVD culled from her Ramble performances over the past several years. Earlier this month, the band performed at the Carolina Downhome Blues Festival in Camden, South Carolina.

----- Kay Cordtz

MUSIC: THE NEWCOMER AND THE LEGEND

Alexis P. Suter receives assist from Levon Helm
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/29/06
BY RICHARD SKELLY
CORRESPONDENT

Any blues singer will tell you there's a close connection between the blues and gospel music.

Alexis P. Suter, an up-and-coming vocalist from Brooklyn, knows this. Suter was raised on gospel music and began singing in church as a 4-year-old with her mother's choir.

In February 2005, Brooklyn's Hipbone Records released Suter's debut album, "Shuga Fix." She's accompanied on the record by the same musicians who'll accompany her Saturday night at the Sugar Shack in Highlands: drummer Ray Grappone, backing singer Vicki Bell, bassist Peter Bennett and guitarist Jimmy Bennett. A newer addition to the band is keyboardist Bruce Katz, who was sent their way by former Band member drummer/singer Levon Helm.

Helm has gotten into Suter's corner in a big way: He features the Alexis P. Suter Band at his monthly Midnight Ramble sessions at his home studio in Woodstock, N.Y.

"He sees something in us and (we've) got to respect that," Suter said. "So we're grateful because we know that his knowledge of this business is worth more than anything you could purchase anywhere, from anybody."

Suter's "Shuga Fix" is an amalgamation of styles that includes the classic blues of "Teacher Man" and "Rollin' and Tumblin' " as well as touches of gospel, rap and house music grooves. Hipbone Records, founded by Grappone and Bell, primarily was a house music label before shifting gears in recent years to include blues-based releases from the Bennett Brothers and other New York area musicians.

Suter counts her mother, Carrie, and Ruth Brown among her biggest inspirations to become a singer.

"When I was very young I used to sneak and listen to the radio or watch Ruth Brown on TV, and that goes back as far as I can remember," Suter recalled, "and my mother is totally a gospel and hymns person. She's definitely not with jazz and blues, but she appreciates it, as long as it's about being creative.

"But I also have a lot of male influences, people like Barry White, Isaac Hayes, Cream and War," Suter said.

Her forthcoming CD/DVD on Levon Helm Studio Records should be out by December, Suter reckons, "and hopefully by this time next year, we will be a nationally known act and doing more blues festivals. We're learning as we go along. Levon is our shepherd and we are his flock."

From Blues Revue Magazine August/September 2006 Issue

THE ALEXIS P. SUTER BAND
* BB KING'S * NEW YORK CITY *

Alexis P. Suter commands attention even before she begins to sing. Opening for BB King in her first appearance at his New York City club, she walked out in a bright orange tunic, lights flashing off her silver - tipped cornrow braids as her band lay down an insinuating groove. She planted her feet, grabbed the microphone with both hands, threw back her head and spat out the lyrics to "That You Can" in a velvet alto that seemed to rise from the soles of her feet. Delivering the lament of a woman in bad love, she swayed and bounced in frantic hopelessness as her voice glided from a provocative purr to a wounded roar. As the song crashed to a close, she wiped sweat from her face as spectators exchanged looks that asked, "Where has she been hiding?"

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Suter is well known in the dance music world, where she has had several hit records, but she came to the blues relatively recently through her guitar and bass players, brothers Jimmy and Peter Bennett. Encouraged by her Mother, Suter began singing in Church at age 4. On this night her choir director was in the audience to hear her win over the crowd with a hot molasses voice that charms, soothes and agitates. She got jazzy with Big Maybelle's "That's a Pretty Good Love" and determined on the ballad "Changes," punctuated by Bruce Katz's mournfully gorgeous organ.

The sweet and sassy voices of backup singers Vicki Bell and Amy Helm were the perfect counterpoint to Suter's sultry tones. Their sound was particularly effective on "Do What You Do," a vampy number built on the interplay among their three voices. Suter closes the deal with "Ride, Ride, Ride," a staple of her performances at Levon Helm's Midnight Rambles, where she is a featured performer. The humorous take on New York public transportation for the plus sized passenger showcased Ray Grappones' funky beat, Peter Bennetts' slinky bass and Jimmy Bennett's stinging guitar.

"I sing about big-time life experiences," Suter said, and she credits singing with bringing her back from some bad places. The aggressive, desperate quality laid down by the bass and drums in "Hole That I'm In" was the backdrop for Suter's serious testifying about the value of love, embroidered by Richard Bolgers' trumpet and Jay Collins' saxophone. Another crowd favorite was "Teacher Man," a suggestive celebration of mentorship from her album Shuga Fix that Suter playfully directed toward her host. With her backup singers sliding notes provocatively on the refrain and the horns wailing, Suter hollered "BB where you at?" Watching from backstage, apparently, King voiced his approval at the beginning of his own set, saying, "It's a rare thing to share the stage with great talent like that young lady."

----- Kay Cordtz

Review:
LIVING BLUES #179 JULY/AUGUST 2005 ALEXIS P. SUTER
"SHUGA FIX" HIPBONE RECORDS (HBS-001)

What a voice! New Yorker Alexis P. Suter has a husky church-hewn contralto that goes way down low, well into the bass clef, and she uses it to highly emotive effect on a wildly mixed bag of mostly original material, some personal, some political. A deep-soul ballad that brings Mitty Collier to mind mingles with garage funk, old-school soul, Sly Stone-style funk rock, a bit of hip hop, a hint of country, and an ode to NYC's subway system driven by a Bo Diddley beat and featuring a Miles Davis-inspired Harmon-muted trumpet solo. There's one straight blues in the bunch-a house version of "Rollin' and Tumblin'" sung to the rumbling bass of Jeff Ganz (the booklet credits it "Wall of Bass"), a four-on-the-floor drum loop, and train whistle sounds that's fierce and fabulous.

ALEXIS P. SUTER PRESS QUOTES

In recent years, only Macy Gray has possessed the same genuine, soul saving star power as Suter, and not surprisingly, Shuga Fix offers a similarly irresistible blend of poetic poignancy and modern day nostalgia. The difference, however, is that Suter seems far more grounded in her endeavors and thus provides a bit more hope that R&B will be saved from the emotionless personalities that are currently being manufactured in the corporate board rooms of the major labels.
John Metzger, The Music Box

What a voice, and she uses it to highly emotive effect! Fierce and ferocious!
Lee Hildebrand, Living Blues Magazine

Remember the name Alexis P. Suter, because with her talent and voice she is on her way to being a big star!
Danspapers

Alexis rumbles lowdown and magnificent. "All I can say is that anytime Alexis Suter offers you a "Shuga Fix", you should take it!!
Doc' Blues, LI Blues Jam

Powerful? Yes. Sensitive? Yes. A vocalist with an unprecedented voice? Absolutely.
The Blues Newsman

Alexis P. Suter is a singer with a passionate powerful effective voice!
Vincent Zumel, La Hora Del Blues

“One of the most original and unique female Gospel/blues belter, Alexis P. Suter absolutely bowled over the audience.”
Aural Fix