About
Little Charlie & the Nightcats
"Powerful...outrageous...wonderful....Baty's immediately recognizable guitar style and Estrin's uniquely twisted and humorous lyrical vision [make] Little Charlie and the Nightcats one of the most successful proponents of the blues/swing /rock/jazz synthesis so popular today." --Living Blues“Rollicking, super-cool, jazzy and hip...satirical, sharp lyrics and killer guitar and harp solos. It just doesn't get any better then this.” —Blues Revue
On THAT'S BIG! the band covers a wide array of sounds and styles - all from their original point of view. While still displaying their usual knack for tongue-in-cheek storytelling, the songs on THAT'S BIG! display a rootsy inventiveness that's a bit more serious than some of their past material. Estrin originals like She Used To Be Your Woman, Money Must Think I'm Dead and That's Big effortlessly move from solid blues to jazz-flavored jump, driven in equal parts by Estrin's voice and harmonica and Baty's unpredictable guitar work. The instrumental tracks Coastin' Hank, Bluto's Back and Bayview Jump burn with blues smoke and jazz fire.
For Estrin, songwriting is an important art form. "I like songs that tell stories," he says, "songs that are well-crafted and meaningful." He cites Sonny Boy Williamson II, Willie Dixon, Percy Mayfield, Baby Boy Warren and Leiber and Stoller as his main songwriting influences. As a harp player, Estrin has few peers. "Rick Estrin sings and writes songs like the brightest wise guy in all bluesland and blows harmonica as if he learned at the knee of Little Walter," raved Down Beat. "Estrin is a heralded genius of the harmonica, as well as a foremost songwriter," said The San Francisco Bay Guardian.
Matching Estrin's prowess lick for lick are Baty's wild, seemingly impossible guitar excursions. From Charlie Christian-like jazz to Chicago blues to West Coast swing and rockabilly, Baty has all the genres mastered. He seamlessly blends various elements into a guitar sound that is his alone. "Little Charlie Baty plays as much guitar as Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy put together," raved The Village Voice. "He is one of the most fluent guitarists working in any genre."
Baty first met Estrin in the early 1970s while Baty was a harmonica-playing UC Berkeley student. With Rick already an accomplished harp player, Baty decided to switch to guitar full time and the two formed a blues band. After relocating to Sacramento, Baty quickly emerged as a take-no-prisoners, one-of-a-kind guitarist, equally at home playing swing, jazz, blues, or any variations he could imagine. With the addition of a drummer and a bass player, Little Charlie and the Nightcats were born.
In 1986 the band sent an unsolicited tape to Alligator Records. Alligator president Bruce Iglauer was blown away. He flew to Sacramento to see the band perform and was sold. Their debut album, ALL THE WAY CRAZY, was released in 1987 to overwhelming success. Almost immediately they went from playing small Sacramento blues clubs to performing concerts and festivals around the country and around the world. After six more studio albums an a greatest hits disc, guitarists, harp players, songwriters, fans and critics remain overwhelmed. "Can anyone name a better guitarist than Little Charlie?" asked Blues Revue. "Who can out-tough Rick Estrin? Little Charlie and the Nightcats play some of the deepest blues out there."
"We're good at putting on a show," boasts Estrin. "People don't go out to see people who look like them. They want to see something special. I was schooled in this business to be a showman, and that's what you get when you come to see us." The Chicago Reader described their live show as "party exuberance in the context of superb musicianship. Baty sometimes sounds as if he's growing musically right in front of your eyes."
With THAT'S BIG! and continued non-stop touring, the band, like their music, will remain in constant motion, attracting new fans across the country and around the world. "The blues needs converts," noted The Village Voice, "and Little Charlie and the Nightcats make a few new believers every night."
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