The Blues Project - Projections (1966)

The Blues Project were a rock band from New York City originally active in the mid-60s.

The Blues Project's debut album had been almost entirely blues-based. However it did feature a couple of covers by contemporary singer-songwriters, and this resultant folk-rock sound was expanded upon on their second album (also their first to be recorded in the studio), which featured their best-known lineup of Al Kooper (keyboards/vocals), Danny Kalb (guitar/vocals), Steve Katz (guitar/harmonica/vocals), Andy Kulberg (bass/flute) and Roy Blumenfeld (drums).
Projections featured an experimental mix of rock, R&B, folk and jazz. It could perhaps be described as among the earliest examples of American psychedelic rock, released the year that the genre first took off. The music was certainly much more complex than that of their debut. All members were given plenty of room to show off their instrumental skills, the new direction even letting bassist Kulberg play flute on a couple of songs (the instrument he began on before he took up the bass). They also moved away from cover songs, as the album featured mostly originals.
However a divide was beginning to develop behind the scenes. Kalb has originally been the band's leader, but now the other members were beginning to become more important. It's worth noting how the singing is shared throughout the album - whilst Kooper and Katz sang the new experimental originals, Kalb sang on the traditional blues covers. Soon this stylistic division would begin to pull the band apart.

Live At The Cafe Au Go Go (1966) <|> Live At Town Hall (1967)
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