Knickerbocker All Stars Bring Blues, Soul and Dancing Back to the Knick
Knickerbocker All Stars Bring Blues, Soul and Dancing Back to the Knick Friday, Oct. 9, as the nine-piece band returns to the Westerly room whose musical history inspired its name for a night built around blues, jump blues, soul and a dance floor meant to be used.
This isn’t simply a concert with dancing permitted off to the side.
Dance Night at the Knick is built around the floor.
The Knickerbocker All Stars take the stage at 8 p.m., bringing two vocalists, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and a four-piece horn section into a room with decades of history behind exactly this kind of music.
The current lineup is Willie J Laws on vocals and guitar, Alexus Lee on vocals, Arthur Migliazza on keyboards, Osi Brathwaite on drums, Paul Loranger on bass, Doc Chanonhouse on trumpet, Emmett Goods on trombone, Rich Lataille on saxophone and Doug James on baritone saxophone.
That’s a lot of horsepower for a dance floor.
A Band Born From the Knick’s Musical History
The name Knickerbocker All Stars isn’t borrowed from the venue simply because the band happens to play there.
The group’s identity is tied directly to the musical legacy of the Knickerbocker.
For generations, the Westerly club developed a reputation as one of southern New England’s homes for blues and roots music. The Knickerbocker All Stars were created in that tradition, drawing heavily from the American music that historically filled rooms like this one: blues, jazz, jump blues, R&B and soul.
The result isn’t a nostalgia act recreating a particular year.
The band takes the language of classic American roots music and puts it behind a large ensemble capable of moving from blues shuffles to swinging horn arrangements and deep soul grooves.
That four-man horn section is particularly important.
Trumpet, trombone, tenor saxophone and baritone saxophone give the All Stars the kind of punch associated with the great jump-blues and R&B bands, while the rhythm section keeps the music pointed toward the dance floor.
Some Serious Blues Credentials
The All Stars have accumulated an impressive collection of collaborators.
Members of the group have recorded or performed with artists including Marcia Ball, Jimmie Vaughan, Sugaray Rayford, Thornetta Davis, Curtis Salgado, Duke Robillard, Al Copley, Dave Maxwell, Sax Gordon and Johnny Nicholas.
There’s also a particularly strong Rhode Island connection.
The All Stars have worked with musicians associated with Roomful of Blues, the Rhode Island-born band that became one of the country’s enduring institutions in jump blues, swing and R&B.
The Knickerbocker All Stars have also reached the upper reaches of the Living Blues Radio Chart, appeared on the Grammy nomination ballot and received a Blues Music Award nomination for Soul Blues Album of the Year.
But those credentials aren’t really the point Friday night.
This show isn’t designed for an audience sitting silently in theater seats.
It’s Dance Night.
Two Voices at the Front
The current lineup also gives the band two distinctive lead voices.
Willie J Laws brings guitar and vocals to the front line, backed by decades immersed in blues, funk, R&B and Texas-rooted musical traditions.
Alongside him is Alexus Lee, a Rhode Island singer-songwriter with a powerful soul and R&B voice.
Putting both singers in front of a nine-piece band allows the All Stars to move through a much broader range of material and energy than a conventional small blues combo.
Behind them is a lineup assembled for scale: four horns, keyboards, bass and drums.
When all nine musicians are working at once, this is closer to a small soul revue than a bar band.
The Knick Is Changing, but the Dance Floor Remains
There’s another layer to Friday’s show in 2026.
The historic Knickerbocker entered a new chapter this year under the stewardship of the UNITED Theatre, with the space becoming the Knick Music Lab.
The transition has expanded the building’s role in music education and community programming while preserving live performances in a room that already carries considerable musical history.
And one of the traditions being preserved is dancing.
Friday’s show is billed as the second Dance Night of the fall, following the Al Copley Quintet’s swing night in September.
That matters because there aren’t many music rooms left where dancing is treated as part of the event rather than something an audience might spontaneously decide to do.
At the Knick, the dance floor is part of the identity.
Eat Before You Come
There is one important change longtime Knick visitors should know about.
The Knick currently does not have a working kitchen.
Prepackaged concession snacks and soft drinks will be available, along with a limited bar offering selections of packaged beer, wine and canned cocktails.
Anyone remembering the Knickerbocker as a place to have dinner with a show should plan differently for this one.
Eat beforehand.
Then show up ready for the reason the room became famous in the first place.
A band, a dance floor and American roots music loud enough to fill both.
More information is available at the Event Website link below. To purchase tickets, click the Event Ticketing link below.
Details
Event: Dance Night at The Knick with the Knickerbocker All Stars
Date: Friday, Oct. 9, 2026
Time: 8 p.m.
Venue: Knick Music Lab
Address: 35 Railroad Ave., Westerly, RI
Music: Blues, soul, jazz, jump blues and American roots music
Band: Nine-piece ensemble
Lineup: Willie J Laws, vocals and guitar; Alexus Lee, vocals; Arthur Migliazza, keyboards; Osi Brathwaite, drums; Paul Loranger, bass; Doc Chanonhouse, trumpet; Emmett Goods, trombone; Rich Lataille, saxophone; Doug James, baritone saxophone
Admission: $17
Seating: General admission
Dancing: Yes; the event is specifically presented as a Dance Night on the Knick dance floor
Food: No working kitchen; prepackaged concession snacks and soft drinks available
Bar: Limited selection of packaged beers, wines and canned cocktails
Operator: UNITED Theatre / Knick Music Lab
Planning: Tickets are nonrefundable and nonexchangeable
Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.