2026 – NOLA Blue Records
Release Date : March 17, 2026
By Phillip
Smith; March
14, 2026
The Alexis P. Suter Band
has been one of my favorites since reviewing the Love the Way You Roll
album in 2014. Suter’s latest release
Just Stay Live, recorded from a 2011 live show in the Hudson Valley,
marks their ninth album in a career which has spanned thirty-five-years and logged
over a hundred live performances at Levon Helm’s Midnight Rambles in Woodstock,
New York. Produced by Vicki Bell, this eleven-track recording magnificently
captures all that music, love and positive energy the band continues to carry forward
to this day. The Alexis P. Suter Band
is comprised of Suter on lead vocals, Jimmy Bennett on guitar, Ray
Grappone on drums, Peter Bennett on bass, Vicki Bell on
vocals, Linda Pino on vocals, Benny Harrison on keyboard, and Connor
Kennedy on additional guitar for tracks 8, 9 and 10. What makes this record
even more special is that it features the marvelous talents of The Band’s
Garth Hudson (August 2, 1937 – January 21, 2025) on piano and accordion.
With a delectable serving of swampy slide guitar and barrelhouse piano, the record opens with a spirited performance of Blind Willie Johnson’s “John the Revelator”. Afterwards, followed up with an amazing instrumental featuring Hudson on piano, rightfully titled “Garth’s Piano Solo”. Suter’s soul-dripping delivery of The Allman Brother’ s “It’s Not My Cross to Bear” lands with great magnitude. This track shines bright topped with the backing vocals of Bell and Pino, the warm-toned precision of Jimmy Bennett on guitar and Harrison’s glory-filled accompaniment on organ. As the world continues its dive into insanity, sometimes one just has to take themselves off-line to escape reality. I’m taken by “Whistling in the Dark”, an original song from their 2011 album Two Sides, and how it expresses this idea as a musical experience by navigating the listener through juxtapositioned landscapes alternating between quiet to explosive. It’s a true gem. When I hear her sing Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”, my heart melts. It is really lovely and touching. “Rise”, another big favorite, is a breathtaking jam which features both Kennedy and Hudson which runs for nearly ten minutes. This original track hits like a classic Allman Brothers song. More high-energy jam ensues as they break out the Grateful Dead staple “Turn On Your Love Light”. This one surely puts a smile on my face. To bring it all to a close, the album ends with Suter’s dedication to the world, an emotionally-delivered performance of George Harrison’s “Isn’t it a Pity”.
Alexis P. Suter Band’s Just Stay Live is an absolutely wonderful recording and lands among my most-treasured releases this year.
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For more information about Alexis
P. Suter, visit her website at https://alexispsuter.com/
For other PhillyCheeze review
featuring Alexis P. Suter -> https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=alexis+p+suter