Paul Stubblefield at the Casa Di Amor, Las Vegas, March 2017

Great Night Out 

I’ve just returned from a one week stay in Las Vegas, and a highlight was a visit to the Casa Di Amor Italian restaurant in old Vegas, a place that has been in existence for 40 years and has been frequented in the past by the Rat Pack and other similar luminaries.

Where we sat

My night was made special by being with family, and of course the outstanding food. Yes, my meal did contain one pound of spaghetti, but I didn’t eat it all and you can, as ever in America, take it home for later. I also had their wonderful cannoli – with a candle on top for my birthday, and the Happy Birthday song performed by the house band and guests, this after I had joined in the same for others that night.

This night was also made special by that house band, and the drummer in particular, who also just happened to be the superlative singer Paul Stubblefield. I can’t say I knew of him before my night, but I do now, thoroughly, having listened to him sing live with such clarity and sweetness – able to cover Al Green with genuine individuality but similar cadence – as well as since returning home and listening to the cd Romantic Moods he retrieved from his car to kindly give to me, and YouTube clips along with his performances with S.O.U.L. [Sounds of Unity and Love] and their fine jazz and funk albums What is It? and Can You Feel It?

Paul’s album Romantic Moods is probably hard to track down, but it is a likeable journey through familiar standards important to him, celebrating as they do his past musical experiences as well as people with whom he has performed, especially his brother Victor. The stand-out on the album is opener Lonely People. His vocal on this album and live is really genuinely sublime, a soulful power that can rise to the sweetest falsetto.

Stubblefield plays at the Casa Di Amore on a regular basis and if you are in the area, you must make a date to see and hear him, as well as sample the restaurant and its food. You can also and should check him out on YouTube, and here are two specific recommendations: Paul singing Let’s Stay Together here, and performing a drum solo – his main instrument, especially when he was in the band S.O.U.L. – here.