Family. Music. Great singers. Harmonica. BBQ. Words and Language. Punctuation. Chess. Dumb jokes and puns. French romans policiers. The occasional really good Cognac.
Music
Of course I have a particular fondness for great blues, but I dig most real music that taps directly into the wellspring of the human soul. I don't think that's too much to ask.
Movies
"Off the Wall" - T. Blade & the Esquires, Brookline, MA 1988
Television
DANNY KLEIN'S FULL HOUSE - "Give It To Me" - Music for Middlesex #5 - Waltham, MA 2007
I've Produced or "Executive Produced" some music that I'm really proud of (and yes, sometimes the Executive Producer just buys lunch.) I love working with soulful artists to help turn musical ideas into great records.
Live performance, recording, teaching – blues, country, funk, rock, swamp, you name it. Like most harp players, I am relatively shameless. I also play a bit of guitar and piano, which I have been strongly encouraged to keep to myself.
I like to think I know a great artist or a great song when I hear one... and occasionally I've had some very good luck putting them together. I've also been known to write and co-write, but I guess that's another category...
Cool-Tone's Companies
Tone-Cool Records Boston, US Founder, Prez and/or CEO
1985-2006
Cool-Tone Productions Boston, US Prez, Bottle-Washer
NOW
VizzTone Label Group Various cities, MA, IA, NC, US Prez, co-Founder
NOW
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About me: Well, if you really want to know...
I'm Richard Rosenblatt, sometimes AKA Rosy. Some of you know me from Tone-Cool Records — more on that later...
I started out as a harmonica player in the great Boston blues scene of the early 1970's, toured the East Coast as a member of the Allston Allstars, the Billy Colwell Band, T. Blade & the Esquires, and the 11th Hour Band. I was also lucky enough to record with Sunnyland Slim and back up Hubert Sumlin, John Lee Hooker, Luther "Georgia Boy Shakey Snake" Johnson, Otis Rush and others during that wild time.
I set up a basement recording studio, and started Tone-Cool Records in 1985. I spent the next 20 years as Prez and/or CEO of Tone-Cool, released more than 50 records, and got to work with some amazing artists, including Susan Tedeschi, North Mississippi Allstars, Double Trouble, Sean Costello, Hubert Sumlin, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Paul Rishell & Annie Raines, Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers, Bernard Allison, Monster Mike Welch, Mark Hummel, Tony Z, David Maxwell, Johnny Hoy, the Love Dogs, Toni Lynn Washington, John Brim, Rick Holmstrom, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and many more. Lots of W.C. Handy Awards, Grammy Nominations, a "Keeping the Blues Alive" award, a Gold Record... all good.
During that time I also served 6 years on the Board of Directors of the Blues Foundation, made some great friends and ate a lot of Memphis BBQ. In 2004, due to the changing realities of the independent record biz, Tone-Cool became a division of V2-Artemis Records, and I stayed on as Prez until Spring of 2006.
I'm still playing and teaching harmonica — you can hear me on lots of Tone-Cool records, as well as a few Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson CDs and the occasional album track, commercial or soundtrack, and recently I've done some great gigs with Hubert Sumlin, Bob Margolin (see the Memphis video here!), and Alizon Lissance. And I've been having a ball as a full-fledged member of erstwhile J Geils Band bassist D.K.'s band, Danny Klein's Full House. (See the Cool-Tone Music page for gig calendar.) Other than that, I've been working with a few artists, producing, recording, writing songs, and plotting some brand new empire-building. It's all good...
Newest venture is the VizzTone Label Group, which I launched in 2007 in partnership with blues musician Bob Margolin and publishing magnate Chip Eagle. We're working with Redeye Distribution to establish a "non-traditional" structure for releasing records and marketing music, and so far I think we're off to a great start. I'm proud to say our current releases now include Bob Margolin, Pinetop Perkins (CD/DVD), Dave Gross, Gina Sicilia, Son Seals (DVD), Monster Mike Welch, Super Chikan, Gaye Adegbalola, Boyes/Brill/DelGrosso, Scissormen, the Bruce Katz Band, Terry Hanck, Matthew Stubbs, and more on the way!!! Stay tuned for more details...
I still live in the Boston area with my wife Mary, our son Max (whenever he's home from college), and two small but mighty terriers.
Who I'd like to meet: Right now, a really good pastrami sandwich. Ask me again later.
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for UPCOMING GIGS and MORE MUSIC, visit my new best friend, COOL-TONE MUSIC. For a ride in the way-back machine, hit the 11th HOUR BAND!
http://app.icontact.com/icp/core/mycontacts/signup/generate/export/automatic
Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age by Steve Knopper For the first time, Appetite for Self-Destruction recounts the epic story of the precipitous rise and fall of the recording industry over the past three decades, when the incredible success of the CD turned the music business into one of the most glamorous, high-profile industries in the world — and the advent of file sharing brought it to its knees.
Hey Mr. Cool-Tone thanks for the add much respect for playing with and recording the great blues muscians at your studio Tone-Cool is a great blues label and also people who have Terriers cant be bad we have 1 little Yorkie and she can be mighty when she wants to!!!!Your Friend Dean Sr. Rockin Rick & The Preachers Athens NY PS I Used to run frieght trains to Beacon Park Yard in Boston
