`Sorry, We're Open' was a long time in the making.

Byline: Scott McLENNAN

COLUMN: SCOTT MCLENNAN

Even though Steve LeClaire started recording his album "Sorry, We're Open" in February, he'll tell you the project has actually been 45 years in the making, the fuse lit when he first heard the music that grabbed hold of him as a kid.

However long he took, LeClaire's rock 'n' roll documentary was worth the wait. Using top-shelf musicians from Worcester and employing both broad tastes and meticulous arranging skills, sax player and singer LeClaire delivered a relentlessly enjoyable rock 'n' roll blast. He successfully pulled together the influences of rock, soul and the blues and committed to keeping those influences confined to the stage and dance floor of a night club as opposed to over-thinking them in an academic, classroom sort of way. If the record conjures shades of Redding, Berry, Fogerty and Springsteen, well, so be it, LeClaire confided.

"My roots go toward the traditional rock 'n' roll element," LeClaire explained. "This is music that did not require a computer. It was all made with real musicians."

And pretty fine ones, as the sax man called on a deep bench of acquaintances. Cliff Goodwin played guitar and brought on board singers Janice Singleton Hughes and Maxine Greene Sharp, whom he knew from his work with Lefty Foster.

Keyboard player Mitch Chakour, bassist Wolf Ginandes, drummers Billy MacGilliray and John Riley, and guitarist Mike Ladd joined in, as did Boston bassist David Hull, whom LeClaire ran into when both got a call to work with singer Sal Baglio.

"David said he'd love to be on the CD and to get ahold of him when I was ready," LeClaire recalled. "I e-mailed him, and he sent back an e-mail saying `I'm working as a temp right now.'"

That "temp job" was touring with Aerosmith as bass player Tom Hamilton recovered from cancer treatments. Once the temp work as done, Hull got on board with "Sorry, We're Open."

And of course LeClaire included the Tornado Alley Horns, of which he is a member. Trumpet Player Roger Grover, trombone player Ben Gould, sax player Allen Keifer, and LeClaire trace their roots back to Worcester's rollicking R&B troupe of the late '70s and early '80s, Tornado Alley. Now the horns are featured in the band The Valves. The Valves are playing tonight at Creegan's on Green Street in Worcester as part of Worcester Magazine's Turtle Boy music awards celebration (The Valves took best R&B/funk band). On Saturday, The Valves will be playing at Gilrein's, 802 Main St., Worcester. The band goes on at 8 p.m. ahead of Ricky Russell. LeClaire's CD will be available at those shows as well as when he is performing with The Silverbacks.

To his credit, LeClaire kept the talent on his CD hot but not overpowering. His aim was a good-time record, not a showcase of virtuoso talent. He pointed to Frank Zappa's "In New York" album as an example of what he was shooting for. Though the album features such finger-tangling guitar blowouts as "Black Page," LeClaire appreciates "Big Leg Emma," described in the album's liner notes as "... a stupid song to tap your foot to in the middle of this other stuff ..."

"My songs `Eye Candy' and `Bands on the Road' are based on that idea," LeClaire said.

His song "Cadillac" is a great bit of Americana folklore set to a blues shuffle. "Punks" is pure hollerin' attitude. "Band's On the Road" skewers the lunacy of the musician's lifestyle.

And then there is "Ben's Song (A World With No Dreams)," LeClaire's powerful rock ballad about his 20-year-old autistic son. LeClaire's raw vocal performance plays off of a soaring musical arrangement to generate true emotional sparks. Though a departure from the rest of "Sorry, We're Open," "Ben's Song" is an excellent addition to the set.

LeClaire has spent much of his 40-odd years in music as a sideman, arranger and presenter of other people's material; On "Sorry, We're Open" he is the boss, the writer, and cranking out original songs. And we don't for a minute buy LeClaire's claim that he took this approach to avoid the hassle of paying licensing and royalty fees to record covers. These are clearly songs from the heart. A rock 'n' roll heart at that.

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Singer Shawn Monteiro will pay tribute to Betty Carter at a performance Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 10 Lincoln Square, Worcester, to benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. Pancreatic cancer claimed Carter's life 10 years ago. Each year, Worcester's Pancreatic Cancer Alliance puts on a jazz-related event that raises both funds for research at the UMass Medical School and awareness of the disease, as pancreatic cancer has claimed the lives of many jazz luminaries. Donations for the show Wednesday start at $50, and details are available online at www.pancreaticalliance.org.

The latest round of concerts at Cafe Fantastique will benefit community radio station WCUW-FM (91.3). The shows will be Saturdays at Rotmans furniture store, 725 Southbridge St., Worcester, with sets at 6 and 8 p.m. Tickets to benefit WCUW are $10 per set. Jorge Luis Grullon and El Canon de la Bachata perform Saturday; EJ Ouellete and Crazy Maggy will be there May 10; Pendragon is there May 17; the annual tribute to Bob Dylan led by Bob Jordan happens on May 24; and Riverbend splits the bill with Plainfolk on May 31.

Seemless and Jeff Buckley tribute band Peyote Radio Theater are at The Lucky Dog Music Hall, 89 Green St., Worcester, tomorrow. Entrain is at Tammany Hall, 43 Pleasant St., Worcester, tomorrow. Debbie Davies is at Gilrein's in Worcester tomorrow.

George Carlin is at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester tonight. Anti-Flag, Street Dogs and others bring a dose of street punk to the Palladium, 261 Main St., Worcester, tomorrow. Saves the Day, Armor for Sleep, Set Your Goals, Metro Station, Valencia and Lydia are at the Palladium on Sunday for a 5:30 p.m. concert.

And Worcester Magazine has more than 20 bands playing the Worcester's Green Street area tonight to celebrate its aforementioned Turtle Boy music awards. Jon Short and The Generators are at The Dive Bar; Weight of Gravity and Uncle Billy's Smokehouse are among those at Creegan's; Trebek, Clear the Way, The Curtain Society and Soulstice are at The Lucky Dog; Matt Schwachmann hits up The Banner; Linzy Martinelli plays at Tara Pub; Dick Odgren and others are at Block 5. Bee's Knees packs into The Grey Hound; Jason James and Nude Black Glass mix it up at Hotel Vernon; and up at Nick's on Millbury Street, Dan Burke is at the piano.

George Clinton and Parliament-Funk will be at the Palladium in Worcester on July 12. Tickets are $30. Go! Team and CSS are at the venue Aug. 9. Tickets are $22. Tickets for both shows will be available tomorrow at Strawberries and FYE stores and online at tickets.com. To order by telephone, call [phone].

And Showcase Live!, the new concert hall in Foxboro that will be part of Patriots Place, is opening this summer. Chaka Khan is booked for Aug. 18. Boys II Men, Squeeze, David Grisman, Al Green and Dave Brubeck were other performers named this week as among those heading to the 1,500-seat venue.

Scott McLennan can be reached at [e-mail].

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Steve LeClaire performs with The Valves tonight at Creegan's in Worcester.