Producer Danny Kortchmar (Billy Joel, Spin Doctors, Fabulous Thunderbirds), also a guitarist, decided to form his own blues band in the mid-'90s. Called Slo-Leak, the band is composed of Kortchmar on guitar, ex-Paul Butterfield bassist Harvey Brooks and vocalist/guitarist Charlie Karp. For the purposes of their first album, Slo Leak, on Pure Records, out of Georgetown, CT, the trio used two drummers, Leroy Clouden and James Wormworth. Other musicians, most from the New York City area, include Steve Russell on harmonica, Rob Paparozzi on harmonica, Fred McFarlane on piano and Chris Eminizer on tenor and baritone saxophones. Aside from working with Butterfield for many years, bassist Brooks also forged a reputation for his work with Bob Dylan and the Doors. Guitarist and vocalist Karp has recorded and toured with Buddy Miles, Aerosmith, Buster Poindexter and Meatloaf. The members of Slo-Leak show some taste and knowledge of the idiom in the songs they cover, obscure gems like Willie Dixon's "I Cry for You," Lightnin' Hopkins' "Katie Mae," Bo Diddley's "You Don't Love Me'' and Jimmy Liggins' "Drunk," but they do so in a 1990s blues-rock fashion. The group's founders, Karp, Kortchmar and Brooks, also throw in a few self-penned songs on their debut album. Unless this group is ready to tour, however, chances are their renown won't spread much beyond New York City and Westport, Connecticut, where Kortchmar and much of the rest of the band are based. They returned in 1999 with When the Clock Strikes 12.~ Richard Skelly