"Neither predictable nor routine" --Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat Magazine, January 2016 (four stars out of a possible five) "“Rock Me Baby, with its indomitable uprush of high-quality blues and jazz, is one of the few truly outstanding albums of 2015.” --Frank-John Hadley, in an email “Wonderfully authentic...The whole thing swings in the way that the very best soul-jazz always did…LaRhonda sings with pride and passion and belief and commitment.  Qualities that can’t be faked.  They’re spontaneous and that’s the way this whole album was crafted…LaRhonda says that, 'Music heals the player as well as the listener’; there’s plenty of healing here!”  —Bill Buckley, Soul and Jazz and Funk (UK), November 13, 2015 "What a wonderful band! …Louie need not shy away from a comparison with Jack McDuff or Jimmy Smith, and he has LaRhonda Steele at his side, a congenial vocalist who sings with masterful poise and a rich alto…Everyone involved shines, both as sensitive accompanists as well as imaginative soloists. Everything is right here…This album is essential for all fans of Hammond Sounds!" —Amy Zapf, BluesNews [Germany], March 2016 "Steele is a very impressive vocalist, blessed with a big, soulful voice…impressive sax work by Renato Caranto…and while I’m at it, big hand for King Louie, who comps and solos on the Hammond B-3 impressively throughout…a very nice set played and sung by a bunch of top quality pros."  —Phil Wight, Blues & Rhythm: the Gospel Truth (UK), December, 2015 “King Louis is the king of the Hammond B3…[LaRhonda Steele] excels in the jazz/blues/gospel register, her vocal tone sometimes evokes Aretha Frankin, Ella Fitzgerald or even Nina Simone.” —Manu “Blues Boom” Decker, Blues & Co [France] “First recording together by this Portland, Oregon-based pair, featuring Louis Pain’s impressive Hammond B-3 organ playing and LaRhonda Steele’s big soulful voice…This is a superbly crafted album made by top class musicians who are prepared to give each enough space to create something special, and they have achieved that here.” —Blues Matters [UK] “Louis "King Louie" Pain has a long career of R & B-gospel music behind him. Needed was a captivating voice: it's done.” —Andre Hobus, Soul Bag [France] “An extraordinarily talented duo…A disc to have and listen to endlessly.” —Gianandrea Pasquinelli, Bluestime [Italy] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Louis "King Louie" Pain and LaRhonda Steele are popular and critically acclaimed NW artists who have frequently performed together at the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival and elsewhere. Their September, 2015 Shoug Records release, “Rock Me Baby,” is something very special: a deeply funky and soulful CD. The CD is receiving regular airplay in the US and in Europe (it debuted on the Living Blues chart in February, 2016 at #8), and rave reviews have appeared in prestigious music magazines world-wide, including a 4-star review in the January, 2016 issue of Downbeat Magazine. "Rock Me Baby" features a stripped down, spontaneous sound that sets it apart from most other contemporary CDs. What makes the approach work is the talent & soul of the performers. Pain has been dubbed, “Portland’s boss of the B-3” by The Oregonian. He toured & recorded with the late Evidence Records bluesman Paul deLay for a decade, and he’s worked with such internationally known artists as Solomon Burke, Howard Tate, Bo Diddley, Bernard Purdie, and Martha Reeves, as well as with a “who’s who” of Portland-based artists. Pain has performed innumerable times at Portland’s top blues & jazz club, Jimmy Mak’s, including 17 years and counting with legendary drummer Mel Brown every Thursday night. Steele began her musical journey in Jones, Oklahoma, singing her first solo in church at age 13. Since moving to Portland, she’s worked with most of the top local artists, including the late Obo Addy, with whom LaRhonda performed at Lincoln Center. LaRhonda is a cancer survivor who has emerged from her successful battle with the disease a remarkably powerful and joyous performer. As she puts it, “I’ve been through the fire.” Guest saxophonist Renato Caranto is arguably the best in the NW. He’s worked with many of the same local artists as Pain and Steele, toured in 2014 with Grammy-winning Esperanza Spalding, and toured with country music legend Merle Haggard from 2015 until his passing. Original Blues Brothers frontman Rob Paparozzi flipped when he heard "Rock Me Baby," and he, Pain, and Steele are tentatively planning a series of European gigs together. You can learn more about Louis and LaRhonda by visiting their websites.  Below are the liner notes from the CD:  - - - - - - - - - - - - I first played with LaRhonda at a gospel set I was asked to put together for the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival in July, 1994.  Our mutual friend, the late, great Janice Scroggins, who was the obvious pick to play piano and direct the music for that set, recommended LaRhonda as one of the vocalists. LaRhonda’s singing was incredible.  But she said a grand total of two words to the audience: “Thank you” after she was done!  Since then, LaRhonda’s singing has only gotten better, while she’s become a remarkably warm & confident performer.   I feel she’s Portland’s best-kept secret, and I hope that, with the release of this CD, the secret will finally be out! Re/ our recording process: once, when I was trying to nail down the form of a song at a rehearsal, trumpeter/educator Thara Memory said, "What--are you afraid something might HAPPEN?”  He was talking about the downside of planning music out in advance--a loss of spontaneity, of potential "magic."  LaRhonda and I believe that this under-appreciated tradeoff is the reason that most recordings nowadays sound so lifeless—that and the computerized way that they’re recorded.  They may please the ear, but they lack that “healin’ feelin'": the mysterious something that gives the listener goosebumps.  That’s a real shame since, as Janice Scroggins, used to say, “we’re in the healing business.”  For this recording—our first together—LaRhonda and I were mindful of not falling into that trap.  We performed as we do at our live shows, leaving plenty of room for something to “happen"—and we think you’ll agree that it did!  We hope you enjoy listening to this CD as much as we enjoyed recording it.  That’s what it’s all about; as LaRhonda likes to say, "Music heals the player as well as the listener." —Louis Pain