For those of you not in the know, drummer RJ Spangler has been on the Detroit music scene for many years. In fact, he earned his first Motor City Music Award in 1982 with a band he co-founded called the Sun Messengers.

After 15 years as a Messenger, RJ went on to running the band for Detroit blues guitar master Johnnie Bassett. With Johnnie, RJ made his way coast to coast in both the US and Canada as well as many European tours.

Today he is a WC Handy nominated drummer, producer of CDs and live events and the guiding force behind the Planet D Nonet, in addition to leading a very busy organ trio.

And it is with just that aforementioned band, Planet D Nonet, that Spangler has just released his brand new album, the thrillingly-addictive Blues To Be There: A Salute to Duke Ellington (where Detroit�s nine-time award winning swing band pays tribute to their biggest influence in the latter part of his career, Duke Ellington, starting at Newport and up through Anatomy of a Murder).

1. Spacemen (6:38)
2. Pie Eye�s Blues (4:18)
3. Chinoiserie (3:22)
4. Blues to Be There (8:27)
5. Moon Maiden (4:04)
6. The Swingers Get the Blues Too (3:06)
7. Blow by Blow (3:40)
8. Tigress (3:42)
9. Almost Cried (2:28)
10. Purple Gazelle (2:47)
11. Way Early Subtone (3:34)
12. Take the A Train (5:04)
13. U.M.M.G. (2:58)
14. Bonga (4:26)
15. Moonbow (3:16)
16. VIP�s Boogie/Jam with Sam (5:31)

Opening on the fervently joyous Spacemen and the more laid back, finger-snapping coolness of Pie Eye�s Blues, next up is the free flowing, veritably cinematic Chinoiserie, the lavishly ornate, titular Blues to Be There, the groovy Moon Maiden, the late night, smoky cafe appeal of The Swingers Get the Blues Too, and then come the controlled fervency of Blow by Blow and the Latin-hued wonderment of Tigress.

Up next is the languishing beauty within Almost Cried and the perky Purple Gazelle and they are in turn followed seamlessly by the artistically pronounced Way Early Subtone, the upbeat and smile-inducing Take the A Train, the bluesy-jazz influences within the gentle swing of U.M.M.G., the atmospheric Bonga, the recording rounding out on the drum-led Moonbow, closing on the euphonious VIP�s Boogie/Jam with Sam.

Spangler�s r�sum� includes blues and R&B gigs with Eddie Kirkland, The Drifters, Earl King, Wanda Rouzan, James �Thunderbird� Davis, Big Jay McNeely, Larry McCray, Francine Reed, Tad Robinson, Shawn Pittman, Sir Mack Rice/the Falcons with Eddie Floyd, Johnny Adams, Bob Schultz, Eddie Bo, Andre Williams, Nathaniel Mayer, Robert Penn, Eddie & Jimmy Burns, Pinetop Perkins, Ron Levy, Shirley King, James Montgomery, Martha & the Vandellas, Catfish Hodge, Hamonica Shah, Mr. Bo, Willie D. Warren, Michael Ray & the Cosmic Krewe, Thornetta Davis, Jos�lyn B, Geno Parks, the Griswald Brothers as well as jazz gigs with James Carter, Faruq Z. Bey, Bill Heid, Leon Thomas, Marcus Belgrave and Roy Brooks.

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