
DATE: Thursday, September 11, 1997          TAG: 9709110033

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  108 lines

BAND LEADER BATTLES THE "BLUES NAZIS"

CONTRARY TO WHAT the adage would have you believe, size does matter.

At least it does to Little Georgie and the Shuffling Hungarians, the Upstate New York instant-party band whose performance Sunday will cap this weekend's Blues at the Beach festival. Check it out:

A bass, drums, percussion and guitar corps, known collectively as the Mighty Men.

The George-O-Lettes - three soul/gospel divas singing lead and backup.

The three-piece Hungarian Horns.

All choreographed by Little Georgie (a.k.a. George Rossi) at the keyboards.

``It's a sound you can't get any other way,'' Rossi said. ``A synthesizer does not sound like trumpets. Drum machines don't sound like percussion. They just don't.

``I've always loved Ray Charles. Growing up on rock 'n' roll, I loved (Joe Cocker's) `Mad Dogs and Englishmen' and

`Exile on Main Street' Stones. Today, there's Lyle Lovett.''

Rossi and his crew travel big, too. They'll make the 12-hour drive to the Beach in a full-size bus that sleeps 10.

Personnel and influences only scratch at the Shuffling Hungarians, a moniker used in the '50s by New Orleans piano god Professor Longhair. The Crescent City is the mix's main ingredient - a cover of the Beatles' ``Come Together'' has a swampy menace, and Rossi comes off as a slimmed-down Night Tripper - but Little Georgie draws from all corners.

``When I first went into radioland and encountered what I call the `Blues Nazis,' I was very confrontational about it,'' Rossi, 38, said from Syracuse. `` `Open your ears! Take your blinders off!' Now I realize it takes all kinds in this world.

``That mindset of purism is absolutely necessary. It's like yin and yang. You need both camps; otherwise, nothing changes. There are people militantly trying to protect the purity of the music and people like me who are militantly trying to bastardize it.

``I have lot of respect for what has transpired, but I'm not Muddy Waters. Ultimately, I have to make own statement.''

Some Hampton Roads blues fans are already hip to Rossi's statement, even though Sunday's concert will be his first in the area.

``Roll Up the Rugs and Crank It,'' a two-CD scorcher cut live at Styleen's Rhythm Palace, a Syracuse club where the Hungarians have held court most Saturday nights since 1994, made it onto local radio - on Bob Conwell's much-missed ``Blues on The Coast'' on WKOC-FM and ``Blues Alley'' on WNSB-FM.

``My reaction was like, `Jesus, man!' '' said J.D. ``Little Jimmie'' Silvia, host/producer of ``Blues Alley.'' ``It's a party in a box.

``I've been a pretty big supporter. He's so different from anyone I've heard recently. I really admire his individualism. I kind of liken him to Frank Zappa; I call him the Frank Zappa of the blues. The guy kills me. Everything he does has some kind of humor to it.''

The disc is also making inroads around the country, staking a spot on the Living Blues charts four months running. Rossi is particularly proud of that, because the album was produced and distributed on his own label, Queen Bee.

As a small indie, he's competing with the established Rounders, Alligators and HighTones of the recording world. Being boss takes a toll.

``I wear way too many hats. It borders on the insane. My whole life is just one big piece of insanity,'' Rossi said. ``I've had to throw out large chunks of my life to make records, when my job should be to wake up and write songs.

``Today I have to balance the books, craft contracts, go to the bank and beat retailers up for the money they've been stiffing me on. . . . I rarely have a minute to think about music.''

Rossi has even less time to think about the Shuffling Hungarians' next disc, but he realizes following up ``Roll Up the Rugs'' won't be easy.

``A lot of people have brought that up, that I shot my wad early,'' he said of the live album and a self-titled CD that was cut in the studio. ``The first record was sort of like emotional projectile vomiting. I had never sung, written, fronted a band or run a label. It was like Vesuvius erupting. With the live record, we decided to make it raw. This is what we are. We didn't gussy it up. Just stick it out there and see what happens.''

Time has also figured in the evolution of Little Georgie. Rossi had just gone through a divorce when he came up with the persona. ``I had nothing - no money, no life,'' he said. ``All I had was the ability to stomp my foot and scream.''

Consequently, Little Georgie came off as misogynistic and arrogant; a braggart, ``yet mortally wounded.''

``One thing I think people forget about the blues is some sense of the theatrical,'' Rossi said. ``Why do people buy a bunch of Rolling Stones records and not Muddy Waters? Part of it may be skin tone, but (the Stones) do something theatrical.

``When I tried to develop this character, I wanted him to be something I could do the rest of my life, like Hal Holbrook doing Mark Twain. . . . He's a cartoon of my life. I tried to make him into an epic figure that would, in phoenix-like fashion, rise from the ashes.''

These days, Little Georgie is more like the band's ringleader, pointing in the right direction, Rossi said, adding: ``I earned every single one of these gray hairs, every roll of fat. I wear my battle scars like a badge of courage.''

Otherwise, a go-round with the Shuffling Hungarians - usually three sweat-soaked hours without a stop - is business as usual.

``Basically, I want everyone to get really drunk and throw their underwear on stage,'' Rossi said. ``Then I know I've done my job. The true test of success is if the cops show up.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

Little Georgie and the Shuffling hungarians

Photo

QUEEN BEE RECORDS

Little Georgie and the Shuffling Hungarians are a party band with a

unique sound and musical philosophy.

Graphic

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Call: 491-SUNN