SUPERCHARGE TOUR SPECIAL

SUPERCHARGE Albie Donnelly's Rhythm'n'Blues Tornado His bald head, bushy beard and shades have become instantly recognizable on the European music scene. But above all, it's his fiery saxophone playing that has made Albie Donnelly one of the biggest names in Continental Rhythm'n'Blues. Since the Liverpool native founded his band SUPERCHARGE in 1974, he has proceeded to establish its reputation with rising success. Recordings on the prestigious Virgin Label (with Mutt Lange as producer), No 1 in Australia, tours with QUEEN, B.B.KING & CHUCK BERRY, TV shows and extended tours across Europe and Australia are a constant proof of this. As a frontman who combines bluesy vocals with soulful sax licks he has continued and developed the tradition of greats such as Junior Walker and King Curtis. With its new line-up Albie Donnelly's Supercharge has evolved from its origins as a R'n'B showband into a leading exponent of authentic, powerful soul, blues and swing... Todays line-up: Albie Donnelly - alto & tenor saxophone/vocals, Dave Shepley - guitar/vocals, Frank Engel - trumpet, Big Jay Wieching - baritone & tenor saxophone, Mike Rafalczyk - trombone/harmonica/vocals, Wolfgang "Bolle" Diekmann - bass, George Mahr - hammond organ/piano, Uwe Petersen - drums pics by Georg Mahr - click for more tour photos back to top of page

BIG STUFF ON THE CONTINENT Celebrating the 30th birthday in March 2004 of his band Supercharge, larger-than-life Liverpudlian blues saxman Albie Donnelly invited Zoot to join them on their anniversary tour of Germany and Switzerland. Also featured was Donnelly's former bandmate and fellow Scouser Gaz Gaskell. Twelve days later Europe was well and truly stormed. BigRoll's sponsors, Friedrich and Olav from Contaire GmbH in Cologne, were at the first gig - at Cave 54 in Heidelberg on Feb 12. The photos are back from the chemist's and ready for viewing here. Meanwhile, here's Friedrich's report: Cave 54/Heidelberg is a small venue with a BIG history. It was founded 50 years ago - having hosted great ones like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald performing there. And on the 12th of February it was ready for an appropriate birthday party with Albie Donellys Supercharge, featuring Zoot Money. By the way: When they promoted that event (local newspaper only) it was sold out within 2 hours. A delicious buffet and a friendly atmosphere expected the chosen few that were so lucky to get in. We talked to a real Zoot fan standing next to us who carried about thirty records with him in a plastic bag and forced Zoot to sign them all... Albie & Supercharge (3-piece horn section, bass, guitar, drums and organ/piano) opened with a flawless R'n'B set list, steaming and grooving. After a few titles they invited their former bad mate Gaz Gaskell to join the stage, which turned out to be the intro for an electrifying performance of "Tequila" and "Low rider". After that Gaz reinforced the band's guitarist as rhythm guitarist and they set the night on FIRE. In the middle of the second set Albie introduces the "one and only Zoot Money" to take over keys/lead vocals. Zoot delivers a excellent interpretation of "Roll with it, baby" just to lead over to a mind blowing version of "It never rains, but it pours", which gives room for all Supercharge members for an extended solo spot. Especially Albie, his trombone player and his guitarist deliver exciting lines and riffs. Zoot shows some of his trademark solos and -naturally- a stunning vocal performance. And then -just accompanied by the bass player, the guitarist and the drummer- Zoot breaks out into a breathtaking performance of "Will the circle be unbroken" - which he dedicates to Alexis Korner. That is simply the most moving and intense part of music that evening. REALLY big. After that it's party time again. Zoot, Gaz and Albie take the lead vocals as it comes and end up with a super-bonus version of "Hoochie Coochie-Man" and leave a happy exhausted club crowd. Later on we had a nice talk with Zoot who told us a little bit about his equipment, his embarrassment concerning the lacking memory of rock stars he had worked with and his gladness of being so well represented in the "electronic world". As proof he showed us his handcrafted shirt....;-)) Friedrich Stahl pictures by Friedrich Stahl and Olav Schettler (second row, centre - pictured with Zoot) For more great pics from the Contaire Boys klicken Sie hier     back to top of page

now what?   TOUR DATES Thu 12 - Cave 54, Heidelberg, Germany [AD] Fri 13 - Moonwalker, Aarburg, Switzerland [AD] Sat 14 - Muehle Hunziken, Bern-Rubigen, Switzerland [AD] Fri 20 - Music Hall, Worpswede, Germany [AD] Sun 22 - Spectrum, Augsburg, Germany [AD] Mon 23 - Schlachthof, Munich, Germany [AD]   Zoot Money lives in Fulham   Site built and maintained by NMC Production & Marketing   back to top of page