©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

A night of blues under the moon with the Pastorius Park concert
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

The Dukes of Destiny is a seven-piece blues band from Philadelphia that has been together 22 years. Three of the original members – John Colgan-Davis, Bob Holden and Richard Ray Adler – are still with the band. Colgan-Davis and Adler live in Mount Airy, and the other members live nearby.

The Dukes of Destiny has performed in local venues such as the Mermaid Inn in Chestnut Hill, WXPN’s the World Cafe Live, Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville and the Sellersville Theater. The group also performs at weddings and private parties and has three self-produced CDs. The band’s schedule and CDs can be found at www.dukesofdestiny.com.

Now, meet the band: John Colgan-Davis, harmonica and vocals; Bob Holden, drums; Richard Ray Adler, guitars and vocals; Rich Curtis, bass; Arlyn Wolters, vocals; Carl Snyder, keyboards, and CC, sax and vocals.

Local: Explain your band’s music. What genre do you place yourself in?

John Colgan-Davis: We are a blues and roots band. We do electric Chicago blues, old-style soul, and some rockabilly and New Orleans funk. At heart, though, we are a blues band.

L: How did the group get together?

JCD: A bunch of friends were sitting around jamming some 22 years ago. They got an offer to play a gig at a party in February, and the party got snowed out. But they got an offer to play a gig at the now-defunct Taker’s Cafe in Germantown. They were looking for a name, saw a matchbook cover offering some service to make you “The captain of your own destiny!” and changed Captain to Dukes. And so it has been for 22 years.

L: Which three albums can you not live without and why?

JCD: Personally, I would have a hard time narrowing it down to three. The Best of Muddy Waters got me started playing the blues when I was 15 or 16, so that is a definite one that I always listen to. The Best of Little Walter and the Best of Sonny Boy Williamson, two of the greatest harmonica players ever, never fail to put me in a good mood. Charles Mingus’ The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is my favorite jazz recording of all time. But I literally have thousands of favorites. That is the beauty of music – you never run out of sounds that will just blow you away.

L: What is the best part about being on stage?

JCD: It is magic – pure magic. I shake off the week, get to interact with other musicians in an incredibly real and intimate way, watch how the music makes people feel, get to be creative, have an incredible amount of fun, and join with the audience in this “thing” that can only be truly appreciated if you are there. Several times over the years I have turned to someone in the band while we were playing and said, only half jokingly, “I could die now and it would be fine.” It is magic – pure and simple. It takes you somewhere that nothing else can. I will play until I am physically unable to.

L: This one time, at band camp …

JCD: Never went to band camp. Have had many wonderful experiences in all the years I have been playing, though. Met a lot of my musical heroes. We have opened up for wonderful people – Charley Musselwhite, James Cotton, Albert King, Gatemouth Brown. Have been the back-up band for Otis Rush and Terry Evans, have jammed with Terrance Simeon and John Lee Hooker and Mississippi Fred McDowell, and on and on. The memories are one of the true treasures of playing for as long as I have and we have. It is a special gift and we do not take it for granted.

L: Why play in Pastorius Park? What makes you most excited about this venue?

JCD: I have long been an attendee at Pastorius Park summer concerts. Love the setting, the friendliness, the pure joy of a group of people just out to hear good music and enjoy a summer evening with other music lovers. It’s not a smoky bar and it’s not “date night” – it is a night of people experiencing the joy music can bring. I live in the area, so it is also good to be able to play before friends and neighbors.