Parker Wheeler’s Blues Party hosted Sharon “Sugar” Jones, Motown Dave Cleckley, Barron Brissett

Parker Wheeler’s Blue Party events every Sunday night at The Grog in Newburyport seem to get even better with time. Last night’s Blues Party wasn’t as well attended as usual, probably because of the weather. Yet, Wheeler’s line-up for last night’s show were all A-list players and his vocal guests were Sharon “Sugar” Jones, Motown Dave Cleckley, and Barron Brissett.

Wheeler and his players opened with a surf sounding blues instrumental workout that was distinguished by Amadee Castenell’s fine stream of flute notes, the instrument adding an unusual sweet sound to the rootsie/blues music forming all around it. Wheeler came in well enough with his harmonica blowing out that rangy string of notes that makes the phrase sound like it is lasting a long time and pulling people into the mesh of instruments and the weaving tapestries of melody. Wheeler can also belt out a song among the best of the blues singers when he feels the moment is right to switch from harp to voice.

Keyboardist Tom West chimed in with his sprightly organ notes while guitarist Myron Kibbee rocked out with tasty riffs inside his melodic phrase. Things got even more exciting when Castenell, switching to saxophone, blew a mean funky phrase that had a life of its own, born out of the power and range of his talent. Kibbee, from Beale Street Band, plays with a lot of fire for a young musician. He doesn’t just play his notes. He makes his guitar sound off like the thing’s got something to say.

Another treat came when West did a brief showcase of his own talents by banging those keys like nobody’s business on a variation on the barrelhouse style, conjuring images of old speak easies and barrooms from earlier times. Wheeler’s rhythm section last night featured bass player Wolf Ginandes and drummer Steve Bankuti. These two powerhouse, grooving time keepers maintained a steady thump through each number with flexibility, dynamics, and an ability to control and adjust the pace and feel whenever they wanted.

Goddamn! There were times when the band was playing so fiery and mean you might have expected to see fire shoot out of their fingertips and instruments. On slower songs, Wheeler let his charmingly smooth vocal express the emotional content of the music that makes blues the blues. The slow tempo numbers also gave Castenell space to gently, quietly unfold a seductive, forlorn saxophone line and each time the band slowed it down, they had a pied piper effect on the many couples who moved onto the dance floor.

Guest singer Sharon “Sugar” Jones, a true voice of her generation, hit the spot between soul and talent when she began her brief set with “Knock On Wood.” Her tough mama rasp and high powered range pulled at everyone’s ears and eyes to see who was belting out like only the greats can do. “Unchain My Heart” found Jones cruising vocally over the song with verve and muscle. No words, no review can express the kind of clarity and sharpness in her edgy voice. Granted, the house band augmented her well with swirls of organ and sax. West often came in with coolest organ boogie anybody could hope to find on a Sunday evening.

“Sugar” Jones really ripped it up on a freewheeling rendition of the Elvis popularized tune “Hound Dog.” The band got behind her with their individual spikes of talent and probably left a lot of people unable to hear the popular version in quite the same light. West gave it an oldies rock and roll feel with his subtle shift in accents. Castenell rocked right out in true 1950s Elvis era style, his sax blowing out phrases that sounded like they were created during the birth of rock and roll. The rhythm section kept it at a brisk pace with a backbeat irresistible to the feet. Guitar boy Myron Kibbee delivered a stinging phrase that he could make jump all over the place.

Second guest singer, Motown Dave Cleckley, went up on stage to sing The Spinners’s oldies hit “I’ll Be Around.” Cleckley hit the vocal spots in this piece very well, gliding in and out the music at just the right moments with a finesse all his own. The band captured the persistent rhythms and the sweep of melody that this song encompasses.

The house band, during the second set, had a way of making the music grow larger, more appealing, as if they had rearranged the architecture of what they were playing in the first set. They opened their set by jamming and improvising until they boiled up a thick broth of edgy riffs, walloping grooves, and tastefully delivered, soulful melodies. Wheeler sang like the best of the blue eyed soul singers and he blew meaningful transcendent notes into his microphone. Classic R&B numbers like Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally” and Sam & Dave’s “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” got an extra boost from guest singer Barron Brissett.

Eventually, Sharon “Sugar” Jones came back up to sing the old Sam Cooke ballad “A Change Is Gonna Come” and she belted it out like a force of nature. Jones’s svelte voice went high and spiritual like a choir and when Motown Dave Cleckley joined her they combined their power and sang it like there was no tomorrow.

Jones also turned in a barn burner of a rendition of the Etta James classic “Breaking Up Somebody’s Home.” The band was really packing a wallop on this one and Jones sang over the intricate grooves and she exploded with her own musical TNT while the musicians played with the explosive energy of Fourth of July fireworks. On Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade Of Pale” Jones sounded like a tough mama who found religion as she sung with the zeal of the newly converted and developed her spiritual ebullience here.

You haven’t lived, though, until you’ve heard a singer of this caliber sing B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone.” It was another knock out delivery as Jones put heart and soul into her vocal notes to bring forth the passion that this music was created for.

Guitar boy Myron Kibbee too kicked some serious butt on the B.B. number. He found these heavenly high notes in the intricacy of his fret board and he played them for all they were worth. You’d swear that his guitar wasn’t playing the notes as much as crying out them out.

The grand finale of Parker Wheeler’s Blues Party featured more of West’s fancy organ work, creating shimmering, climactic notes that he seemed to conjure out of thin air. These guys had a way of bringing things to a boil at the end of the high energy night that had the crowd asking for more.

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