Rocky Morales

The generally friendly, somewhat deranged voice of Doug Sahm shouts “Rock and roll — eeee!” and he’s not really summoning the boxer, nor the squirrel. A tenor saxophone comes blistering in, generally for one from the shorter solos allotted a new player on the doo wop or R&B amount. The player is certainly San Antonio’s Rocky Morales, so that as critic and longtime Tx music enthusiast John Morthland once composed, “No one gets that shrimp-boats-bobbing-in-the-Gulf audio down much better than Rocky Morales.” The saxophonist was a close collaborator with Sahm on / off because the 1959 local strike “Why, Why, Why.” This melody was released in the Harlem label with a music group Morales was fronting at that time called the Markays. Before loss of life of Sahm in the past due ’90s, it could have already been a sure factor to forecast that if the most recent project of the bandleader didn’t feature Morales, then your next you might. The hearty tenor guy plays on traditional recordings from the Sir Douglas Quintet, aswell as later on productions from the outstanding Tx Tornados. He was crucial to Sahm’s R&B path, especially when it had been heavy using the noises of bluesman T-Bone Walker or a tribute for an R&B story such as for example Johnny Ace. Morales can be a part of 1 of San Antonio’s famous horn areas, the West Part Horns. This group was created in the first ’70s and christened by Sahm, with whom the group utilized to play frequently at venues like the older Cleaning soap Creek Saloon. Sahm was something of the mentor to all or any from the horn players involved with this picture, an accomplished plenty of musician on many instruments to want a hands with developing various kinds of horn plans. Morales performed with Sahm at many essential locations, including Carnegie Hall. The Western Side Horns possess traveled all around the globe, including gigs in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Amsterdam, Japan, Switzerland, and Belgium. Additional members of the group possess included Al Gomez on trumpet, Place Barnet on saxophone, Mike Zeal on bass, Moses Vasquez on drums, keyboardist Sauce Gonzalez, and last as well as perhaps least, vocalist Small Roger. As an associate of the group or in a number of other random horn areas, Morales has performed backup for several blues, R&B, and rock and roll performers, including Rick Danko, Joe Ruler Carrasco, and Kim Wilson. In 2000, he started performing with Tx R&B crooner Randy Garibay and his Felines Don’t Sleep music group.