Royal Blues

Chicago Magazine

Royal Blues

By: Ed Enright

December 96

If it grooves it’s good.

So might go the unspoken credo of the Mighty Blue Kings, seven practitioners of an eclectic sound you could call jazzy jump blues. They swing, no doubt about it, and they render their craft in loose, circa-forties suits – but don’t pigeonhole them as retro. “We don’t just want the ‘Hey, Daddy-o’ people to hear us,” says saxophonist Jerry “Big J” DeVivo. “This is not dated music. It is right to play this music today.”

Evidently. In just two years of the combo’s existence, fans have seen the Kings rise from weeknight bar band to major-venue headliner: a standing Tuesday-night gig at the Green Mill, a huge crowd at Aragon Ballroom, Cabaret Metro, the Vic, and Navy Pier’s Skyline Stage. And their CD Meet Me in Uptown has sold more that 14,000 copies since it’s release last spring.

Part of the group’s appeal is its accessibility. The Kings have developed a following of clean-cut college students, a few grungy twentysomethings, a high society “swing crowd” element, and a boomer contingent. “I’m attracted to traditional American music, whether it be blues, jazz, or rock ‘n’ roll, and also today’s music,” says vocalist Ross Bon.

With a couple of out-of-state tours under their belts – including trips to the West Coast, the East Coast, and England – and aspirations for a major-label recording contract, the Kings are aiming for national fame. But they’ll always call Chicago home. “Chicago is know as a fan-based town,” says Bon. “It stands strong behind teams-the  Bears, the Bulls, the Cubs – and that’s kind of what we feel.