Tomas Doncker Band ‘Big Apple Blues’ Review: Smokey and Soulful

February 27, 2015 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

New Yorkers do everything bigger and better, so why should their Blues and Big Band tunes be any different?

With social savvy lyrics and incredibly deep sonic textures, Tomas Doncker Band’s “Big Apple Blues,” is the type of album the genre needs to attract new fans. While New Yorkers especially will dig songs the likes of “Coney Island”, “Hellfighter of Harlem,” “Ground Zero” and the small shout-outs to the area, dedicated blues aficionados will appreciate the craftsmanship and polish on every track.

It all starts with the political lyrics and Doncker’s powerful, but sincere voice. True old-school blues personified, he’s got a message of social equality and empowerment. How he delivers it is in a way that true blues fans can and will appreciate- with plenty of passion. There’s no way this guy doesn’t go home from every performance exhausted. Every note is sung with unbridled , added with rich guitar licks. At times, Doncker’s work feels like a combination of the soul of Doby Gray and the groovy fire of John Lee Hooker.

It also helps the cause that the band supporting Doncker is To say the sound on “Big Apple Blues” is full would be a huge understatement. Doncker’s vocals and guitar would be entertaining enough, especially with his baritone, but add in at times three and four-part vocal harmony, keyboards, harmonica and strings to go along with bass and drums and you got more than a big band feel. It’s like Blues on steroids.

The band stretches their sound on a few tracks (“The New Day” also comes to mind here) but not nearly as much as “Fun City.” With elements of soul and even Motown, it’s a surprise entry on the album, but it’s one that ultimately fits considering all the instrumental pieces involved. Talking about how the city has changed over the years, it’s a fun tune that adds an extra balance to the sometimes heady themes. At the same time, it’s far from a weak lyrical experience. Smart and warm, it’ll be one that’ll get stuck in your head. Thanks to Doncker’s softer vocal approach here, the song has the most radio-friendly appeal.

With an ability to entertain with both their poetic lyrics and expert musicianship, as well as charismatic frontman, TDB’s “Big Apple Blues,” is not only an album that blues fans will adore, it’s catchy enough to invite tons of new ears to the genre.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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