Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame inductees Rizzz are reuniting for a rare show Sunday, February 5 at The Met in Pawtucket. The show will feature original members Dave Tanury and Jim Tait on guitar, pianist Jerry Xavier, organist Paul Sauvageau, drummer Rick Couto, and saxophonists Bob Weisberger and Klem Klimek. Local legend, and fellow RIMHOF inductee Marty Ballou will join the band on bass.
Rizzz is known for creating original jam band sounds with Soul/R&B/Jazz influences as well as Roots/Americana before those genres were widely recognized. They were local favorites into the early 1980s, regularly selling out area venues.
In 1978, the band that formed in Riverside, RI played a memorable show at Gullivers in Smithfield. “At that time, Rizzz was being managed by the Banzini Brothers (Jack Reich and 2 partners),” explained drummer Couto. “They were doing lots of shows in Southern New England. One night, they had Little Feat at a local show and Jack brought Lowell George and Richie Hayward to the club. No one expected them to sit in.”
“The band warming up the show at the Met, The Originals, includes Frankie O’Rourke and Judy Harrison,” added Couto. “Back in the day, they were also managed by Jack in a band, called The Other Half.”
Get there early… music starts around 5PM. Click here for tickets to the show.
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It’s all about versatility. Keeping an audience interested through decades of music-making is much easier if you get the big picture. Wait a sec – better make that pictures. RIZZZ has always had a broad vision for what it wanted to be, and that vision was always bolstered by its sizable talent pool. Skilled guitarists, charismatic singers, keyboards and horns – each time out the band generates plenty of choices as to possible directions, as well as a big dash of adventure when it comes time to call audibles, which they do a lot.
That’s how they racked up such dedicated fans. From their mid-70s dominance on the RI club scene to their wonderfully received reunion gigs in the past few years, the audience arrives to see which tack RIZZZ is going to take this ’round – roots, funk, jazz, and jamming are always part of the menu.
Several members keep busy playing with other area outfits, including Brass Attack, Mark Cutler’s Men of Great Courage, D’Vottes, Violin River, and NRBQ – call ’em a gaggle of creatives who just can’t stop making music. The guys have all spent plenty of time on the Met stage, so this show is bound to be a blast for longtime RIZZZ heads and new listeners alike.