Michael Cleary Band CT's Premier Blues Funk Band Music Page

This Life is MCB's latest full length release. Mixed by Chuck Rubano at Capture
Productions and Mastered by Dana White at Specialized Mastering, it is a sonic pleasure full of surprises. Enjoy!

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Here are a few clips from our new CD "This Life"
(Click on file to play in your media player or "right click" and choose "save as" to download to your computer)

Hi hello (5.17MB)

Why don't know (5.20MB)

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MCB Live- The Story:
When one of the Michael Cleary Band’s fans asked if his brother could come and record us, they said sure. It turns out his brother was Pete Nenortas of Satronen Sound out of Maine,, and he showed up at Black Eyed Sally's with a full blown Protools multitrack recording setup. Not only were the tracks recorded in high fidelity and with great care, but the band also happened to have all their knobs dialed right and rose to the occasion with one of their most memorable performances. The sound, the vibe, the audience, everything just clicked, and when Chuck Rubano of Capture Productions heard the tracks, he knew he was listening to something special. Eagerly wanting to be a part of this project, Chuck painstakingly mixed the tunes with his vintage Trident mixing board in his Protools equipped studio. After some finishing touches by Dana White at Specialized Mastering, all the stars were aligned, and the result is MCB Live.
What you have here on this cd is a nearly perfect snapshot of what the Michael Cleary Band is all about. Great songs, monstrous solos, epic jams, funky grooves, wacky humor; all in all a diverse, joyous musical stew played and sung by talented musicians who have been performing together for nearly 16 years.
Starting with the impassioned vocal performance of Ed Corvo singing “Never Gonna Let” which features some blistering guitar work by MC, they then break it down into a dynamic, funky version of “All To You” which climaxes with a Hendix inspired groove where the band literally ends up giving its all to you.
Following the catchy radio-ready arrangement of “Stand” the band breaks into a raucous version of the fan favorite, “Zydeco Girl” where Vince Delaria plays every note he knows and then some! Vincenzo!
The band then delivers a smoldering version of “Funky 16” where Ed implores the listener to feel the groove with a veiled threat but by then the audience has been willingly taken captive for the ride.
What can one say about “World Like This” besides Paul Bozzi! Paul Bozzi! Paul Bozzi! The band’s illustrious percussionist performs an epic version of this MCB classic, which opens with a bombastic drum battle between himself and drummer John Corvo. The breakdown in the middle is classic MCB with a hypnotic, spacey jam underneath a sing-along chant while Paul “Pops” Bozzi rants and raves!
On any given night the band will spontaneously break into songs and jams that they’ve never played before, and this night was no exception. The best example of this is in the solo section of the next tune “Go To Bed” where they go from a reggae flavored Jeff Beck melody, backed by a Police inspired high hat rhythm, into a Zappa-esque rock montage climaxed by a Ted Nugent riff all without missing a beat. It was never played before and will never be played again but the tracks were rolling to prove that it really happened. And to top it all off they seamlessly segue into the closer of the evening, “Child Inside,” a song they’ve been playing for over 15 years but still deliver with an enthusiasm and a driving energy as if they wrote it last week.
There is a special energy and camaraderie that makes each MCB performance fun and exciting, and all the people involved in this project have done a masterful job in making “MCB Live “ the next best thing to being there.

Here are a couple mp3's from the Tales from the cup CD...Enjoy!

(Click on file to play in your media player or "right click" and choose "save as" to download to your computer)

When All Else Fails (5.05MB)

Mr. Positive (4.93MB)

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Liner notes from the MCB release
Tales From The Cup... (The Coffeehouse Archives)

1994-1996 was a memorable time for us. MCB had been voted best rock band in the Hartford Advocate reader's poll and we were riding high creatively and commercially. The band and producer Mike Arafeh were striving to make the best recordings that we could and this collection is a representation of our efforts. We've included some live studio recordings, remastered favorites and some multitrack mixes that have remained unreleased until now. While most of these songs remain part of our live set and some only come out for the occasional "dust off", pouring thru the archives reveals their genesis. Some memorable moments include the 30 person choir on "Fails", playing guitar everywhere from the kitchen to the bathroom, singing naked on "Peace Finally Comes" and of course, the coffee. I feel so blessed working with such talented people on both sides of the glass; the Corvo Bros., Paul "Pops" Bozzi, keyboardists extraordinaire Vince, Scooter, and Tony "Abu", Caudles and Mike Arafeh. We hope you get as much enjoyment listening to this collection as we did putting it together.

Peace,

M.C.

All songs written by Michael Cleary, Ed Corvo, John Corvo, Paul Bozzi and Tony Scaringella
except where otherwise noted.
(c) 1994 (p) 1994 Rhythm 'n' Buddha Pub co. (ASCAP)
Tracks 2,9, and11 from E=MCb (c) 1995 Coffeehouse Records (p) 1995 Rhythm 'n' Buddha Pub co. (ASCAP)
Tracks 6,8,and 13 recorded live at the Coffeehouse Studio 1994 (c)(p) 2003 Rhythm 'n' Buddha Pub co. (ASCAP)
Tracks 1,4, and 14 previously unreleased Recorded at the Coffeehouse Studio 1995-1996 (c)(p) 2003 Rhythm 'n' Buddha Pub co. (ASCAP) Produced by Michael Arafeh and Michael Cleary

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Call It What You Like is the album that started it all. Renowned guitar phenomenon, Michael Cleary was tearing up the Connecticut circuit with the 3 piece power trio "The Bus" when he ventured out on his own to experiment with some of his compositions in a more expanded format. Enlisting Paul Bozzi, who was the drummer in The Bus, to play percussion, he then hooked up with John and Ed Corvo on drums and bass, and Tony Scaringella on keys and brought them into the studio to help cook his musical stew. What started as one man's vision soon became a complete group effort, and the care and dedication they gave to perfecting the arrangements and performances turned this into a timeless masterpiece that still sounds as fresh, exciting and moving today, as it did when it was first released. Surprises and ear candy abound. From the "everything but the kitchen sink" vocal arrangements in the title track to the multi-tracked guitar mayhem of Riff of The Day, listeners will find themselves grooving and smiling, thinking and feeling and wanting to listen to it all over again. Once you are turned onto the Michael Cleary Band's songs you are compelled to go see them live, and that, my friends, is another story....

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Liner notes from the MCB release Tales From The Cup... (The Coffeehouse Archives)

Liner notes from the MCB release
Tales From The Cup... (The Coffeehouse Archives)