JUNE 13 • 2024 | 41
to attend New York University
with an undecided major. “I
had done some drama and
theater in high school and was
kinda interested in that, and I
also thought about psychology,
”
he recalls, but at the last minute
opted to attend the Berklee
College of Music in Boston.
“There was maybe some
fear and self-doubt about div-
ing into the music thing that
kept me hedging a little bit
and looking at other things,
”
Bluestein acknowledges. “I
guess being 17, 18 years old,
practicing as much as I was and
getting into jazz the way I was,
something flipped, and I was
pretty sure that (music) was
what it was gonna be.
”
After graduating from
Berklee, Bluestein moved to
San Francisco, hanging up fly-
ers to advertise his availability
and becoming part of the Bay
Area scene and releasing three
solo CDs between 2000-2003.
His big break came in 1996,
when he joined former 4 Non
Blondes singer Linda Perry as
part of the band for her first
solo tour. He’
d subsequently
play with Shelby Lynne but
decided there would be more
opportunity for him in Los
Angeles, where he moved
during 2003.
“In San Francisco, there
was a bit of a ceiling to what
you could do as far as bigger
national and internation-
al touring,
” says Bluestein,
whose credits also include Boz
Scaggs, Jacqui Naylor and Kitty
Margolis. “I felt I had gotten
maxed out in what I could do
(in San Francisco) and, sure
enough, being in L.A., I was
touring the world.
”
That was with the pop sing-
er Anastacia, who had more
success in Europe than in the
U.S. That gave Bluestein a
profile that led to subsequent
work with Supertramp’s Roger
Hodgson, Enrique Iglesias, Burt
Bacharach and Stevie Nicks.
With Foreigner, meanwhile,
he recorded on the group’s
last studio album, “Can’t Slow
Down” in 2009, and has played
on several live and compilation
albums since.
He was a Foreigner fan
before joining the band. “I
always thought it was just irre-
sistible rock — rocking and
tight and carefully arranged
and masterfully produced,
”
he says, adding that he knows
a great deal more about the
music now, after 16 years of
playing the songs.
“I didn’t realize some of the
(progressive rock) elements
that are in there,
” he says.
“
Al Greenwood, the original
keyboardist, was really into
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes,
stuff like that. The way they
fused some of those laments
into rock and R&B was a really
huge thing. The subtleties and
nuance of that was lost on me
as a kid, before I started playing
it and really understood what
was going on.
”
His spotlight moment in the
show, however, comes during
“Urgent.
” Since the departure
of saxophonist-guitarist Thom
Gimbel in 2021, Bluestein has
been charged with recreating
the saxophone solo played by
Junior Walker on the 1981 Top
5 hit, but on a keytar rather
than a horn.
“Thats super fun, I have to
say,
” Bluestein notes. “That
saxophone thing is so iconic,
so there was a little bit of trep-
idation about that. But right
from the beginning, people
have been really responsive,
and it seems to go over quite
well. Maybe enough time has
passed since the ’80s clichés
of keytar and skinny ties and
buttoned-up shirts and mullets
and stuff that people accept it
more.
”
And, as if he needs any val-
idation, Bluestein recently saw
the legendary Herbie Hancock
play the exact same keytar he
uses during a concert in Los
Angeles.
Bluestein is anticipating
that he and the other current
members of Foreigner will be
involved in some way in the
band’s Rock Hall induction.
And he anticipates being part
of Foreigner for years to come,
even though the group began
what it’s calling a farewell tour
last year.
“The big farewell is just a
farewell to touring as exten-
sively as we have been,
” he says.
“We’re just going to be more
selective as far as doing shows.
We already have shows in the
books for next year, so we will
be playing. It’s just not going to
be as intense as it was.
”
DETAILS
Foreigner performs with
Styx and John Wait at
6:45 p.m. Saturday, June
15, at the Pine Knob Music
Theatre, 33 Bob Seger
Drive, Independence
Township. 313-471-7000 or
313Presents.com.
Foreigner will be
inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in October.