J.P. REALI PRESS INFO
  • JP Reali Band Photo 2024
  • J.P. Reali Bio

    J.P. Reali is a blues guitarist and singer/songwriter currently living in Newark, Delaware. Originally from New York, J.P. spent nearly 40 years living and performing in the Washington, D.C. area where he was nominated for multiple Washington Area Music Awards. He won the D.C. Blues Society battle of the bands three time, and competed in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee. J.P. has released 3 self-produced albums that have all received critical acclaim: 2012’s “The Road To Mississippi,” 2019’s “A Highway Cruise” and 2024’s “Blues Since Birth”. In 2021, J.P. relocated to Delaware to concentrate on performing and guitar teaching, sharing his passion for the blues by helping the next generation of musicians learn from his years of performing and lessons he took with master guitar teachers including Jorma Kaukonen, Ernie Hawkins, and Mike Auldrige.

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    Photo credit Michael G. Stewart
  • JP Reali Blues Since Birth Cover
  • 2024 CD Release
    JP Reali "Blues Since Birth"
    American Blues singer, Guitarist and Songwriter has performed the Blues for over 40 years, mainly in the Washington DC area. On this album he is joined by lifelong friend Jim Larson who plays drums and has jointly produced the album with JP, in addition to this duo Gill Glass and Josh Borden play Bass and Keyboards respectively. All but one of the nine tracks has been self-written. The album gets off to a cracking start with The Devil’s Take, a pulsating John Lee Hooker style song with strong lead guitar work and a solid vocal from JP. The following track is called The Virus Blues playing reverence to the COVID epidemic, which includes some clever lyrics surrounding the periods of isolation due to lockdowns and travel restrictions, covering the period perfectly. While JP predominately plays electric guitar throughout the album, he does dabble with some acoustic work on his Steel Guitar and plays a mean harmonica, both highlighted on the final two songs, the moody Cold Steel Blues, and the autobiographical song Blues Since Birth. For me he is at his best when playing electric guitar, the song emphasising this is Blues In A Minefield where JP draws inspiration from the greats like Albert King and Robert Cray to create a very smooth “floating” guitar sound alongside his menacing vocal, this is a standout classic blues song which deserves to be heard by a wider audience, hopefully this review will start the progression. This is a standout release full of excellent playing and meaningful lyrics, you can understand from this why JP is such a sought after “Blues Teacher,” a role which enables him to pass on his passion and skills to the next generation. - ADRIAN BLACKLEE

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  • A Highway Cruise Cover
  • 2019 CD Release
    JP Reali "A Highway Cruise"
    There’s nothing quite like the fun you can have when you pack up some provisions and a few choice friends and head out for a road trip adventure to explore new frontiers, and hidden bi-ways and bask in the glorious landscape or just ride along treasured old roads. Guitarist J.P. Reali, a veteran of the DC music scene for over thirty years, headed up to New England to meet up with old friend Duke Levine to record a session that became a musical road trip across genres of blues, country and good old rock ‘n’ roll for a five-song EP “A Highway Cruise.”

    Best known as an MVP for hire by Peter Wolf, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Otis Rush, Duke Levine has an encyclopedic knowledge of blues, R&B, rock, pop, and jazz. Reali and Levine met on the road two decades ago and have been kicking around the idea of recording together for years. Levine assembled a group for the session that boasts a crack rhythm section of Jim Haggerty on bass, Mark Teixeira on drums, Dennis Brennan on harmonica, Tom West on piano and organ, and fellow Boston six-string guru Kevin Barry on lap steel and Dobro.

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