In a nutshell, pure old- time blues. Sugaray, born Caron Rayford, has a strong, soulful, bluesy voice. His CD, Blind Alley, will have you swaying and bouncing . My only problem with the CD is that he only does a couple originals. They are good Blind Alley and I sing the Blues. The title song, Blind Alley, features some nice horns and soulful background vocals. I want more from him! That aside, I love this CD. He is a big Al Kooper fan (me, too). He does 2 Kooper tunes, including the opening song, Nuthin I Wouldn't Do ( For a Woman Like You). He does a wonderful cover here. Nice harmonica and vocals with great lyrics.I'd fight dragons with a toothpick just to prove to you I care. He also does covers ( very well by the way) of Son House's Death Letter Blues, B.B. King's You Upset Me Baby, Blind Willie Johnson's Dark Was the Night and Arthur Adams You Can't Win For Losing Also, he shows his strong vocal ability on I've got to Move (be it brief). This CD doesn't lack anything. It has dark, soulful blues and lively, bouncy tunes. People have complained that most of today's newer blues artists are mostly derivations of blues... Blues/Rock, Texas/ Blues and so forth. THIS IS BLUES ! I have suggested that people get CDSs before- this one you MUST buy! ~ Don Vecchio --Blues Society of Western PennsylvaniaTexas born Caron Sugaray Rayford began sing- ing in the church, and while he has roots in gospel and soul. In San Diego, he began fronting a funk/R&B; band, the Urban Gypsys, but while dabbling in the blues he realized his heart and soul were in this idiom. He started fronting Aunt Kizzy z Boyz, with whom he made some recordings and competed in the Interna- tional Blues Challenge. Moving a couple years ago to Los Angeles, Sugar Ray hosted up a jam in Sherman Oaks and then hooked up with guitarist Chuck Kavoo- ras whose CK All Stars became the house band for the jam. The house band is a rotating group of musicians who have played with numerous legends, and famous folk like Al Kooper, Slash, Steve Lukather (Toto) and Mike Finnigan have sit in. Sugaray recently issued Blind Alley (self-produced) recorded at Kavooras Slideaway Studio with a variety of musicians joining them as well as contributing material. Sugaray is a big man and has an equally powerful voice. The church roots are clearly evident when he sings on a nice varied mix of material. He comes roar- ing on Nuthin I Wouldn t Do (For A Woman Like You), one of two songs Al Kooper contributed with wailing harp, some blues-rocking guitar and a somewhat busy accompaniment that doesn t smother his personality. With Kavooras stark slide and use of tremolo guitar, Sugar renders a field holler moan on the Blind Willie Johnson recording Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground, a performance dedicated to his mother. Sugaray s strong singing does justice to Son House s Death Letter, which opens with simple hand clapping and tambourine behind Kavooras stark delta groove before the band kicks in and the guitarist rocks out a bit on his solo. The title track, which Sugaray co-wrote, takes us from updated country blues to an uptown soul-blues with a funky groove, riffing horns, and a vocal that evokes the late Little Milton and Artie Blues Boy White. Phil Parlapiano s piano break adds to this track s strong appeal. Some nice Albert King styled guitar opens the slow drag groove reworking of B.B. King s You Upset Me baby, that again showcases his ability as a singer as he provides a convincing low-key reading of the lyrics. Al Kooper s soulful ballad, I Let Love Slip Thru My Fingers, provides an opportunity for him to show another side of his style with some nice saxophone from Jimmy Z. His rendition of a terrific Arthur Adams song, You Can t Win For Losing, is another strong soul-blues performance that evokes classic Little Milton. A short gospel performance with just organ and vocal ch --Blues Blast MagazineTexas born Caron Sugaray Rayford began sing- ing in the church, and while he has roots in gospel and soul. In San Diego, he began fronting a funk/R&B; band, the Urban Gypsys, but while dabbling in the blues he realized his heart and soul were in this idiom. He started fronting Aunt Kizzy z Boyz, with whom he made some recordings and competed in the Interna- tional Blues Challenge. Moving a couple years ago to Los Angeles, Sugar Ray hosted up a jam in Sherman Oaks and then hooked up with guitarist Chuck Kavoo- ras whose CK All Stars became the house band for the jam. The house band is a rotating group of musicians who have played with numerous legends, and famous folk like Al Kooper, Slash, Steve Lukather (Toto) and Mike Finnigan have sit in. Sugaray recently issued Blind Alley (self-produced) recorded at Kavooras Slideaway Studio with a variety of musicians joining them as well as contributing material. Sugaray is a big man and has an equally powerful voice. The church roots are clearly evident when he sings on a nice varied mix of material. He comes roar- ing on Nuthin I Wouldn t Do (For A Woman Like You), one of two songs Al Kooper contributed with wailing harp, some blues-rocking guitar and a somewhat busy accompaniment that doesn t smother his personality. With Kavooras stark slide and use of tremolo guitar, Sugar renders a field holler moan on the Blind Willie Johnson recording Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground, a performance dedicated to his mother. Sugaray s strong singing does justice to Son House s Death Letter, which opens with simple hand clapping and tambourine behind Kavooras stark delta groove before the band kicks in and the guitarist rocks out a bit on his solo. The title track, which Sugaray co-wrote, takes us from updated country blues to an uptown soul-blues with a funky groove, riffing horns, and a vocal that evokes the late Little Milton and Artie Blues Boy White. Phil Parlapiano s piano break adds to this track s strong appeal. Some nice Albert King styled guitar opens the slow drag groove reworking of B.B. King s You Upset Me baby, that again showcases his ability as a singer as he provides a convincing low-key reading of the lyrics. Al Kooper s soulful ballad, I Let Love Slip Thru My Fingers, provides an opportunity for him to show another side of his style with some nice saxophone from Jimmy Z. His rendition of a terrific Arthur Adams song, You Can t Win For Losing, is another strong soul-blues performance that evokes classic Little Milton. A short gospel performance with just organ and vocal chorus, I Got to Move, is followed by the strong I Sing The Blues, about him being raised in the country and his whole life has been a struggle, set against a moody horn arrangement as he really reaches deep in the gut for his vocal here. Overnight Sensation has a jazzy flavor with some nice clarinet from Geoff Nudell while Kavooras is taking a more low-key approach here. Sugaray Rayford impresses this listener more each time I play Blind Alley. Not many singers can take us from the delta to the modern chitlin circuit as easily as he does. A big man with a big voice and plenty of personality that makes Blind Alley a recording to savor. His website is sugarayblues.com and this can be purchased at Amazon or cdbaby.com. He impressed me enough that I am likely to check out the two discs by Aunt Kizzy z Boyz that he was vocalist on. -Ron Weinstock --Jazz & Blues ReportSugaray - Blind Alley Self Release 10 Songs; 40:35 Minutes; Suggested Styles: Soul, Blues, Gospel For me, experiencing Sugaray s wonderful, debut solo album has been a study of the Propinquity Effect. Explained by the Mere Exposure Effect, it holds that the more exposure a stimulus gets, the more likeable it becomes. For example, people generally like a song (or album) more after they have heard it a few times. After a few listens, this CD became very likeable to me. However, I first found, and still find, the first fifteen seconds of the first song to be startle reflex style nerve grating. I can imagine an overly busy radio programmer or reviewer popping in a CD and listening to the first song. Upon hearing an opening of harsh cacophony, that person throws it in the trash and hollers, Next. That approach would be totally unfair, but, I am thinking, not unrealistic in this age of sensory and CD overload. Trashing the balance of this album would be tragic because it is chock full of exceptional artistry. Texas born Caron Sugaray Rayford is a big man (6 5 ) with an equally big voice that superbly echoes Muddy Waters and Otis Redding. Growing up in Gospel and Soul, he switched to contemporary music in the San Diego area, singing lead vocals with Urban Gypsys. Soon giving his heart and soul to Blues, he next became lead vocalist for Aunt Kizzy z Boyz, a Temecula CA Blues band. Aunt Kizzy z Boyz won second place in Memphis 2006 at the International Blues Challenge. After moving to Los Angeles, Sugaray met and played with innumerable world-class musicians. His solo career has flourished in LA, and he has done studio vocals on several projects. He has partnered with Chuck Kavooras, a long time LA guitarist and owner of Slide Away Studios who booked artists around Sugaray s vocals. Kavooras produced and recorded this debut solo project. Sugaray states, I am so grateful for the high caliber of talent [22 guest artists] that has played on this project.  Each successive listen revealed the intricate layers of different genres and woven tapestry of diverse and exciting sounds behind Sugaray s skilled singing adaptations. Blind Alleys ten songs feature two co-written by Sugaray, Blind Alley (Ralph Carter/ Rayford) and I Sing the Blues (Sugaray/Chuck Kavooras). It also contains a splendid collection of eight covers by Al Kooper, Blind Willie Johnson, Son House, B.B. King, Arthur Adams, and Joe Gorfinkle. True deep Blues moments are found on tracks two and three, Dark was the Night, Cold Was the Ground and Death Letter. Audibly dedicated to Rayford s late mother, the former features Chuck Kavooras on slide guitar with Sugaray moaning Gospel sorrow. After two minutes, a heart wrenching version of Son House s Death Letter follows with Kavooras adding the best slide guitar since Jack White s version.  Blind Alley, the Soulful title, is a great Voo-Doo woman story. At seven minutes plus, this killer is laced with layers of keyboards, sax, trumpet, guitars, and backup vocals. I swear I hear beautiful Beatles influences in Rayford s slow and smooth version of Al Kooper s I Let love Slip Thru My Fingers.  As fine of a Blues song as you d ever want to hear is the slow and intricate I Sing the Blues. Sugaray co-wrote it with Kavooras, and once again it features a great lineup of musicians. For his debut, Sugaray has split the uprights from 55 yards back! This CD is just loaded with wonderful sounds and music, more appreciated with each listen. Reviewer James Skyy Dobro Walker is a noted Blues writer, DJ, Master of Ceremonies, and longtime Blues Blast Magazine contributor. His weekly radio showFriends of the Blues can be heard Saturdays 8 pm - Midnight on WKCC 91.1 FM --Blues Blast Magazine