Luxury Experience - Chris Bergson Band

Chris Bergson lays it on the line with his latest release, Chris Bergson Band - Imitate the Sun, which is pure blues genius. Chris Bergson is by joined the talented Jay Collins, Bruce Katz, Matt Clohesy, and Tony Leone, with special guests Kenny Rampton, and Chris Karlic on this memorable album.

Chris Bergson Band - Imitate the Sun: Goin' Home, Imitate the Sun, Shattered Avenue, Hello Bertha, Down in the Bottom, Laying it Down in White, You've Been a Good Old Wagon, Mr. Jackson, Dust My Broom, Standing in the Doorway

Personnel: Chris Bergson - vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, Jay Collins - tenor sax, backing vocals, baritone sax on Down in the Bottom and Tambourine on Goin' Home, horn arrangement, Bruce Katz - organ, piano, Wurlitzer organ, Matt Clohesy - bass, Tony Leone - drums and percussion, Kenny Rampton - trumpet on Hello Bertha and Mr. Jackson, Chris Karlic - baritone sax on Hello Bertha and Mr. Jackson

Chris Bergson Band - Imitate the Sun was produced by Chris Bergson for the 2 Shirts Records label.

The album opens with the catchy track, Goin' Home, which Chris wrote with his wife, Kate Ross, and features Chris' exceptional guitar work, captivating lyrics, Chris' intoxicating honeyed whiskey voice, and backing vocals by Jay Collins.

The title cut, Imitate the Sun, also written by Bergson/Ross, is gorgeous, with Jay Collin's wailing horn to complement Chris' vocals. The lyrics draw you in like a moth to flame with, "Water level risin', But no one to throw me a line, Hard to keep from drownin', When you're down to your last dime, Stuck in a mess of storm and stress, Hilarity and boredom, Feel like hell so I might as well, Go on down the corner. But soon I'm gonna imitate the sun, after days of having his rays, Obscured by smog and storms, Breaks through the clouds, shines on down, Blinding all below ..."

Hello Bertha, also written by Bergson/Ross, captures the essence of the quintessential bartender with a ready smile, a non-judgmental listener, divulging nothing, and is as much a fixture of the bar as the stools themselves, with the lyrics, "I tried in vain to imagine, the seconds of her life away from this place, She spoke of smoking in her garden, But I couldn't picture daylight on her face, I poured my heart by the pint, And she revealed nothing ... Hello Bertha, It's good to see you again."

Other tracks include the Bergson/Ross songs, Shattered Avenue, Laying it Down in White, and Mr. Jackson; You've Been a Good Old Wagon written by John Henry, and the rollicking Rhythm and Blues song, Dust My Broom written by Elmore James and Robert Johnson with smokin' and pounding piano exceptionally worked by Bruce Katz.

Chris and the band makes Down in the Bottom, a hard-driving blues song written by Willie Dixon, their own with Bruce Katz doing some dazzling solo work on the piano, and Jay Collins, Kenny Rampton, and Chris Karlic on horns.

The Chris Bergson Band - Imitate the Sun album is out-of-the-box wonderful and finishes strongly with the slower paced Bob Dylan song, Standing in the Doorway, that gently brings us back to earth after going full circle of the ups and downs of every day life.