Out of the ashes of Blues Project — one of the most influential bands of the mid 1960s — rose another amazing and influential band of that era: Blood, Sweat & Tears, started by Blues Project founding members Steve Katz and Al Kooper.
Katz and Kooper remained with BST for its early glory years (including the band’s performance at the original Woodstock). They then went their own ways, though the band continues to tour — with all new and much younger members.
“It’s essentially a tribute band now,” said Steve Katz, politely, sitting in his music studio/home office in Kent, Conn., where he lives with his wife, the ceramic artist Alison Palmer.
Make no mistake: Katz isn’t sitting around at home strumming his (many) guitars and talking about The Good Old Days. He keeps busy, making music, doing live solo shows (where he feeds his audience’s nostalgia for the exciting early days of rock and roll in Greenwich Village). He recently wrote a well-received autobiography, “Blood, Sweat and My Rock & Roll Years.”
And now he’s getting his old band back together — but that band is Blues Project, not Blood Sweat & Tears. Katz still speaks weekly with Blues Project drummer Roy Blumenfeld, who now lives in California. More than a half century after they first began making music together, they decided that now was the time to do some live shows and record an album.
The new Blues Project band also includes Chris Morrison (vocals and lead guitar), Ken Clark (piano and vocals) and Scott Petito on bass. All three are younger than Katz and Blumenfeld — but old enough to have experienced live music in a pre-computer age.
Referring especially to the drum machines that have added a more machine-made element to music, Katz said, “Drum machines lack soul. Today’s records lack soul.”
He isn’t talking about soul as a musical genre; he’s referring to the spontaneous magic that occurs when a bunch of musicians come together on a stage or in a studio and unexpected things just … happen.
Blues Project itself is largely electric, not at all an unplugged throwback to the early days of American roots music.
Rob Buccino, who writes about music for Compass arts and entertainment, described the band as, “anchored (like Cream) in high-volume cover versions of blues classics. Blues Project was also among the first bands to blend jazz themes with rock instrumentation, an early forerunner to jazz-rock fusion, at a time when psychedelia/acid rock was washing over the country.”
The new Blues Project began touring last year, and they will meet up in a couple weeks at Petito’s recording studio in Woodstock, N.Y.
True to the roots of Blues Project, the plans for the album are not exactly set in stone.
There is no definite list of songs. All the musicians are coming up with ideas; some of the final choices will probably get made on Saturday, June 25, at 7 p.m. when the band is doing a live gig at The Falcon in Marlboro, N.Y. (www.liveatthefalcon.com).
No one is overly stressed out about what the album will eventually become. Part of the fun of Blues Project and of live music in general, Katz believes, is the unique chemistry that happens when a bunch of musicians get together.
“I’m as curious as anyone else might be as to what will happen,” Katz said happily. “That’s the thing about Blues Project: We never know how it will turn out, but we know it will be fun.”
Buccino agrees that this fluid approach to making plans lies deep in the DNA of Blues Project.
“They were among the first ‘jam bands,’ inspiring others to break out of the then-dominant 3-minute popular song mold,” he said.
Also true to the legacy of Blues Project, much of what the band plays will be electric — but not all of it, Katz said, noting with understatement that, “We’re pretty eclectic.”
Blues Project will continue to tour this year, primarily in the Northeast. A West Coast tour is a possibility next year.
And this October, there will be a new album — pressed on CDs.
“CDs still seem like a new thing to me,” Katz sighed. He assumes the album will eventually become available on streaming.
The band is also using a modern innovation to raise money for studio time: They need $12,500 and have started a Kickstarter campaign. Anyone who would like to contribute can go to www.kickstarter.com/projects/bluesproject/the-blues-project-the-new-albu....
Cumberland Farms gas station on Route 343 in downtown Amenia.
AMENIA — Expanding the capacity for wastewater handling at the Cumberland Farms site along Route 343, the Planning Board at its regular meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 12, discussed the plans and referred the project on to Dutchess County officials for decision.
Representing Cumberland Farms was Caryn Mlodzianowski, project engineer for Bohler Engineering of Albany, specialists in engineering challenging sites.
Mlodzianowski described plans to replace the current inadequate septic system at the site with a larger capacity system installing four tanks that would collect, settle, pump and process, all on-site. A two-foot retaining wall on the western side is included in the plan. She was seeking site plan approval.
“The project is for construction of a new wastewater treatment facility,” explained John Andrews, Planning Board engineer, noting that the project is classed as a “minor improvement,” and therefore not subject to a public hearing.
“The site is subject to flooding and located in a floodway,” Andrews noted. “When you seek to fill in a floodway, the site needs to be examined by county officials.
Although bog turtles were said to be absent from the site, Planning Board member Ken Topolsky asked for documentation of the possible effects of any disturbance within the site’s wetlands.
Agreeing that there is a substantive flood potential on the site, Planning Board member Nina Peek also noted the absence of promised landscaping along the Route 343 frontage between the current parking lot and the road.
An application to allow for a private driveway to one of the lots that are part of the Tower Hill Subdivision was detailed by Rich Rennia of Rennia Engineering.
Terming it a “slight change in the map,” Rennia said that the plans were originally approved in June 2023, revised in January 2024, and re-approved the following month.
“One of the lots is now looking for a private driveway,” Rennia said.
The new proposal only adjusts a lot line, Andrews noted, but a public hearing on the change would be needed.
The Planning Board agreed to schedule a public hearing on the lot line change for their regular meeting on Wednesday, March 12.
MILLERTON — The Town of North East held a board meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13, to create a “memorandum of understanding” contract between the Village of Millerton and the town, explaining how the town will assist the village after its Highway and Water Department building caught fire on Feb. 3.
“The resolution authorizes the town superintendent of highways to assist the Village of Millerton and its highway department with plowing, repair and maintenance of the village highways,” supervisor Chris Kennan said. “Pursuant to provisions of section 142e of the Highway Law, during the period of the Village’s state of emergency.”
Village mayor Jenn Najdek was in attendance to share updates on the status of the investigation and village needs after the fire. “Everyone did a really good job, under extremely stressful circumstances, to figure out a path moving forward,” Najdek said, explaining the support from the town, county, state and surrounding communities has been beneficial and remains appreciated.
“We’re pretty fortunate. It makes you realize what a special place this is to live in,” Najdek said. “When all those resources all of a sudden show up at your door when you need them, that’s pretty cool.”
The town has unanimously accepted a bid for the installation of the Highway garage’s fencing, working with the company Fesco Fence.
For this project, the town received eight different bids from potential contractors with the ranging costs of $166,000 to $328,676. Fesco Fence was the lowest bid submitted, which included the company’s 10% contingency allowance of $15,090.91.
During the meeting Kennan spoke briefly about a new cell tower slated to be built in Ancram. He is receptive to feedback on the topic which has elicited a mixed response from residents. “It’s not in our town, but it’s right on our border and we are familiar with things like the Transfer Station that was placed in the Town of Salisbury,” Kennan said. “I think it’s important that we at least note this so we have an opportunity to talk about it.”
As of Thursday night, the town had collected 37% of taxes, and paid off the Fire District’s budget, according to Tilly Strauss. Along with taxes, the board created a flyer to send out with every receipt to show the community where their money will be going.
Amenia has now been certified as a pro-housing community and has completed the proper paperwork to show its updated zoning and/or building permits, councilwoman Meg Winkler said. “We will be getting into that next year, maybe the end of this year,” Winkler said.
The new Town Hall is now taking its first baby steps, Kennan said, he spent most of Thursday morning at the new building where he was working with a HVAC company to get the system up and running.
“It has been out of service for several years, so there are a couple pieces of equipment in those units that are not working,” Kennan said. “It’s really a first step in our process of getting the work underway, is to get that system working properly.”
Village of Millerton offices on Route 22
MILLERTON — On Monday, Feb. 10, a board meeting was held, largely centered on the impact of the Feb. 3 fire that destroyed the Village Water and Highway building located on Route 22. In addition to the loss of the building, vehicles, equipment and tools were also destroyed.
“If we go back to the cause, it is still undetermined,” said mayor Jenn Najdek, who stated foul play had been ruled out. She also confirmed the garage remained off-limits as the investigation is still ongoing.
Alongside the Mayor, village trustees expressed their concern regarding rumors as to the cause of the fire. According to trustee David Sherman, transparency with the public is key to distinguishing fact from fiction. “I think we should, through whatever releases we can make, make it abundantly clear what that status is so we can squelch these kinds of rumors that are oozing up in the community,” said Sherman.
The Village is working with Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, an independent cause and origin investigation company, to determine the cause of the blaze. According to Najdek, once the investigation is complete, investigators will greenlight the premises for entrance. Najdek also emphasized while investigators are working toward determining a cause, one may or may not be found, contingent on what the investigation yields.
According to Najdek, the Town of East Fishkill sent their engineer the morning of the fire to assist Village’s water operators in setting up a system to ensure drinking water would continue to flow. The village’s supply of drinking water has been continuously evaluated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as well as the Board of health to ensure fitness for human consumption.
With one of the wells being destroyed in the fire, the Village’s water will be conditioned as required and pumped from well no. 1, known as the “doghouse,” to a holding tank as a temporary solution.
“Well no. 2 that was in the building, we can selectively demo around it, secure it, get a semi permanent structure,” Najdek said. “We don’t know what that’s going to be. There’s one hundred different solutions for that, and we will know more after this week.”
The Village trustees showed interest in an acting structure which resembles a “plug and play” system, where all water operating equipment will be housed. “We will be meeting with the engineer, the water operator and Pete [Dellaghelfa, Village’s Superintendent of Public Works], this week on-site and we will start looking for the immediate, short-term solution,” said Najdek.
Previously, the Millerton Water Department housed two 10-inch diameter wells in an unconsolidated aquifer that allowed filtration through 50 feet of sand and gravel. The water then gets pumped into an elevated holding tank, where it is treated and chlorinated before being distributed to residents.
Currently, well no. 1 is being operated by a generator while the power lines to the building are in the midst of being fixed. The intent of these lines, according to Najdek, is to potentially serve electricity to both of the wells and the baseball field lighting.
With the loss of vehicles and equipment, the village is hoping to be indemnified once insurance claims are settled. “We’ve incurred a lot of expenses so far,” Najdek said, explaining her confidence in village insurer New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal. “I feel pretty good about them being able to handle our needs in a timely manner.”
The Village will have a three-month window to borrow vehicles or equipment as needed from the town, county or the state. “God forbid the county’s truck hits the bed, we can ask the state ‘Do you have any trucks that you could loan us?’” Najdek said.
The mayor requested the Highway and Police department compile a wish list of vehicles and equipment for immediate needs. The village hopes to avoid buying used trucks and equipment, hopefully avoiding any problems that come with them, said public works superintendent Dellaghelfa. “It’s not that I’m against used. I just want to see that the village is getting their money’s worth.”
Once Najdek has confirmation from the insurance company, the village will start moving forward with the “wish-lists” from both the Highway and Police Departments. At this time, patience is what’s needed most, explained Najdek. “For those who have never been through a fire, this is a marathon. It’s not a sprint,” she said. “Sometimes answers don’t come into the third mile or fourth mile. It’s not something where information comes quickly from insurance companies everyday, so there will potentially be no updates.”
The village’s state of emergency declaration, which went into effect the morning of the fire, remains in place.
During the meeting, trustee Sherman provided updates on where the village stands for the Community Development Block Grant. The village is planning to use this grant to replace a few sections of sidewalks which need improvement.
“Some things are going to require some engineering input to see how we can rebuild this area,” Sherman said. “The aim is to put some estimates together and have the board’s consideration for our next meeting to approve making a CDBG application for this 2025 year and keeping it with a total cost under the $200,000 level, which is the max.”
According to Sherman, the focus will be on the sidewalks near John Street, also known as Smith Court and North Center Street. The Village needs to submit its request for the grant by Monday, March 3, to be considered.
The Lakeville Journal and Millerton News are seeking young journalists for an educational internship program.
The six week program provides training in the everyday operations of a community weekly. Interns will learn the news-gatheringprocess from pitch to print through regular workshops with industry professionals on topics such as photography, libel and copy-editing.
Interns will also work closely with the papers’ staff. Editors will collaborate with interns to develop stories and provide feedback throughout the program. The papers’ reporters will take interns into the field for shadowing opportunities, teaching interviewing and photography in action.
By the end of the program, interns should be capable of reporting and writing a hard news story or feature fit for print, and should have an article clip and a photograph to start a reporting portfolio. Interns should finish the six-week program with an understanding of current community journalism best practices, interviewing techniques and news-writing skills.
Interested students can find the application online at lakevillejournal.com/education-internship-programs or on our social media accounts.
