Lee Pons - Press

What some major Blues Magazines have to say

"New Orleans influenced blues & boogie pianist Lee Pons can play piano, technically; Big Boogie Voodoo shows that he also can play it with all the soul needed to really play the blues. Moreover, Pons provides vocals with multifaceted emotional delivery that only add to soulful piano mastery, making this CD sweet & thoroughly satisfying . From inflected gospel soul to tributes to the piano greats of the Crescent City. Pons is an accomplished artist who can both play and compose in the styles of the classic boogie pianists, AND, do it in numbers that they themselves would be proud to perform & record. Lee Pons not only plays a number of different styles here, he plays them all well, & has his own particular flairs too. Pons is a versatile & accomplished player indeed, with a bluesy gravelly baritone voice that complements his piano with equally versatile & accomplishment. Big Boogie Voodoo rocks besides, making this a CD for listening & for dancing. Just what the masters intended."
- George "Blues Fin Tuna" Fish, Blues Blast Magazine (May 12, 2011)

"“New Orleans-based pianist Lee Pons lays his 88s and voice bare on Big Boogie Voodoo. A rollicking tribute to the Maharajah, James Booker (in Dr. James) precedes the almost elegiac, “Georgia”-flavored “Blues for Naw’lins,” the stately instrumental “Gospel According to Lee,” and the lascivious “Buttend Boogie.” “Me Minus You” is Ray-Charles-style blues. All this by way of saying that Pons shows a broader range than many blues and boogie-woogie pianists, although he can pound a Pete Johnson-style instrumental with the best of them (“Boogie-Robics”). While “Her Mind is Gone” bears the Caribbean polyrhythms of Professor Longhair’s playing, Pons sensibly sings it in his own, slightly gruff, style.” " -

- Tom Hyslop, Blues Revue Magazine (Feb 01, 2011)

"Lee Pons is, to put it mildly, an up-jumped-the-devil rockin’, rollickin’ New Orleans blues piano player. His latest CD, Big Boogie Voodoo from Mind Balm Records is a record of piano-filled bliss. The very first track, The Voodoo Boogie immediately pulls the listener in and set the tone for the album. It makes skillful use of dynamic and complex rhythms and packs a full dose of energy. Lee’s vocals on the album have a uniquely Cajun feel; his singing lies somewhere between whiskey-soaked and southern drawl and perfectly compliments the feel of the album. He really uses every track to show off his wide range in style & feeling through the piano.
One can hear southern gospel on one track and a very Professor Longhair New Orleans Barrelhouse on the next, with a seamless transition to a Ray Charles feel on another, all while maintaining a consistent feel on the album.
There are a few standout tracks; the third track, Blues for N’awlins, is an homage to the spirit of New Orleans after the devastation wrought by Katrina and evokes a very Ray Charles feeling. Me Minus You might be my favorite, with it’s deeply blues style and lyrics that couldn’t be more bluesy. Finally, the instrumental track The Gospel According to Lee brings you on home to southern gospel church.
All in all, it’s a wonderful album and a must-have for any blues piano lover. One interesting thing to note is that the album is strictly solo. There’s no percussion, no backing instruments; just the piano, but with the way he plays, you’ll never know they aren’t there!"
- Matt Marshall, Americn Blues Scene (Nov 10, 2010)

"Having had his tune “Voodoo Boogie” included on a Blues Revue Blues Music Sampler CD last summer, this blues musician has been classically trained at Juilliard, dressed in spandex by Twisted Sister, and schooled in the blues by the legendaryJames Peterson. At forty-five, Lee Pons is not your average boogie-woogie piano player.

I witnessed Pons’ possessed performance skills at the 2011 International Blues Challenge where he represented the Suncoast Blues Society (West Central Florida) and advanced to the semi-final round, accessorized in sparkly golden Nikes, top hat, and Mardi Gras beads. Imagine the showmanship of Liberace combined with Biker Night on Beale and you will have a clue as to this artist’s persona. He comes across as charismatic and maybe a little scary at first impression, but once you soak up his warmth and thick Cajun drawl, you might not catch every word he enthusiastically spouts, but you’ll know he really means it!

In his first interview for a national publication, Pons describes his life as the child of highly-esteemed jazz bassist Rafael Pons, his adventures in heavy metal, and the reasons he returned to the sounds of his beloved New Orleans."

-Stacy Jeffress, Blues Wax (June 24, 2011)
Read the whole article at
http://bluesrevue.com/2011/06/blues-bytes-lee-pons-6-24-11/#
and part two of this article at
http://bluesrevue.com/2011/06/blues-bytes-lee-pons-part-two-7-1-11/#http://bluesrevue.com/2011/06/blues-bytes-lee-pons-part-two-7-1-11/#

Can you believe that just as women once ruled the Blues scene – that the piano was king. Yeah, long before the guitar became the rattlenake that shakes the blues world the trusty 88′s were the driving force in the blues. Such luminaries as Amos Milburn, Leroy Carr, Meade ‘Lux’ Lewis up through ‘Champion’ Jack Dupree, Memphis Slim to Ray Charles, Pinetop Perkins and Otis Spann. These names resonate with the soul of the Blues – piano blues.
Lee Pons is out of Florida, but his soul is in New Orleans. He comes from a family of accomplished, even famous musicians. In the 1930′s his dad played upright bass in big bands and was in the Danny Kaye film ‘A Song Is Born’ which featured a jam session with Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton and Benny Goodman (that was Lee’s dad on the bass). But the bass wasn’t for Lee, he found his calling one night seeing the good Dr. John on Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert – it was all over for him.
Opening the release with ”The Voodoo Boogie‘ we jump the train down to new Orleans and never look back. Showing some serious left handed bass runs and joyous right handed fingering we are treated to a showcase of ivory and we are now, hooked. The third track is titled ‘Blues for Nawlins’ and it is a moody pace enhanced by loving lyrics for his adopted home. His vocals sit deep in the chest and rasp like the long black line still hanging over the fifth ward and other areas forgotten by America, but underneath is the undying hope that it will return to its ol’ self.
With the Professor Longhair song ‘Her Mind Is Gone’ Lee pays tribute to one of the great Nawlins pianists. A full tilt boogie woogie with a solid walking bass line and enough triplets to make even octomom happy Mr. Pons shows a deep respect and understanding of the classic music of New Orleans and ‘Fess to inspire anyone to learn more about this style.
The love song here would be ‘Me Minus You’ as Lee pines the loss of his lover and how ‘me minus you equals lonliness’. With a sideways nod to Leon Russell this track is a nice change from the up tempo collection that he offers us. Slow, heart felt and with a sincerity that might scare other men away he does a fine, fine job of relating the situation and where it stands. Not to get too hung up on ‘real feelings’ Lee proceeds to ‘Radiate the 88′s’ in true piano man boogie fashion, then hits us with an cleverly titled ‘BoogieRobics’. I can see all the ladies at Zumba class shaking their money makers to this, well actually I can see everyone dancing to this at his shows – a solid boogie which holds a mirror of reverance to Pinetop and Sunnyland Slim.
This release will open up the cupboard and allow many folks to listen forward while looking back at the piano greats that once ruled the jook joints and chicken shacks. People like Art Tatum, Jellyroll Morton, Roosevelt Sykes and even the current crop such as Dr. John, Mitch Woods, Eden Brent and Marcia Ball – all worthy torch bearers of the radiatin’ the 88′s legacy.
-ChefJimi Blues411(July 15, 2011)