The ‘Two Trains’ that Run Through New Jersey
The Two Trains (MoMojo Records) of New York City keyboardist-singer-songwriter Dave “King of the Keys” Keyes, complete with drummers Bernard “Pretty” Purdie of Teaneck, 85, and Frank Pagano, originally from Glen Rock, were recorded in Teaneck, Union City and Tenafly. Keyes wrote/co-wrote nine and picked a doozy to cover: Big Bill Broonzy’s 1952 “Worried In Mind.” It’s the follow-up to his sprightly 2022 Rhythm, Blues & Boogie. As Keyes says, “For me, this album is about coming home to my roots and paying tribute all the styles that have influenced me since I was a kid: blues, boogie, country blues, urban blues, gospel and some funky stuff. From Ray Charles to Leon Russell and everyone in-between, I’m not a purist, but I respect my roots and I stand on the shoulders of those who got me here.”
Keyes has been touring and recording the better part of this last decade with Popa Chubby and Ronnie Spector. His 40-year career includes conducting in the pit of Broadway’s Smokey Joe’s Café as well as kicking out the jams in the bands of Odetta, David Johansen, Bo Diddley and Sleepy LaBeef. Here, he sings his heart out, pounds that piano like Jerry Lee, and lets this tornado of a band with two guitars, bass, harmonica, slide guitar, back-up vocalists, drums and extra piles of percolating percussion do its thing.