Ed Alstrom Album "This Idea Of Humanity" Review!

Artist: Ed Alstrom

Album: This Idea of Humanity...

Released: 2026

Artist Website: https://www.edalstrom.com/

Ed Alstom is a blues powerhouse from the great state of Northern New Jersey. New Jersey is officially one state according to the maps, but for those who know... it's three states. North Jersey, South Jersey and Central Jersey. May as well be three different countries! Ed hails from the north and seems to have kicked around the area for quite some time. His bio has too many cool things to list here, but one of my favorite things is he has been the organ player at Yankee Stadium for over twenty years. He has played with a ton of great musicians from the blues, jazz and rock genres. Also did a stint on Broadway and has done some teaching as well. Clearly this is a motivated cat who knows his business! 

The album opens up with a FANTASTIC cut Put You First. A choir provides the perfect support for  an already exceptionally strong vocal performance from Alstrom. The rolling and rollicking piano is played at the highest level. An organ solo is the icing on an already fattening dessert. It's really like whipped cream on top of oreos! Performances like this one are the reason blues is the timeless music that it is. Ed has clearly been a great student of the genre's best and delivers it with authenticity. 

Go Ahead is a track that jumped out to me as a standout from the first listen. An upbeat cooker that simply has it all. The band lays down a wonderful pocket for Alstrom to tell his story both lyrically and musically. At 2:51 it definitely leaves this writer wanting more. If early Rock and Roll music taught us anything it is that one can get in and out before the three minute mark and still make a lasting impression. Seemed to work reasonably well for a little quartet from Liverpool and it works well for Ed Alstrom as well. 

Like the dirty blues? Then you will love The Way Back. Coming in with a Muddy like slide guitar line set the pace for the real thing in every way. This cut is a throwback to Willie Dixon, Muddy and Pinetop, Howlin' Wolf and all things Chicago Blues. This is a record that mixes it all up quite smoothly, but this song is a straight up shot of blues room temperature brown whiskey. Out of the bottle and into the glass. Don't chill it, don't shoot it, just sip it and take it in. The performance on this one is drenched in soul and could not have been executed any better. 

This album is a 14 song set that clocks in at 53 minutes. It has a sweet contemporary blues approach that flirts with blues adjacent genres. It bounces, moans, swings and cooks throughout its entirety. For a Jersey musician he seems to have more than a foot in NOLA and all things southern roots music. Ed Alstrom is a musician that is able to play the perfect parts all the time. He is one of those guys that just has "that thing". His music is mature and greasy at every turn. If you are looking for some great blues that is a break from screaming guitar or harmonica lines overpowering the music this one is a slam dunk!  

Check out the interview with Ed Alstrom below....

Tell us the brief history of your band or musical career.

I started playing organ when I was 5 years old, inspired by my Dad, Taught myself guitar and bass in my teens. Attended Westminster Choir College to become a church organist; did that, but branched off into every other direction simultaneously. Have played every conceivable type of music extensively in every type of venue, worked for Casio designing and marketing keyboard for 18 years, played in Broadway pits, and have been organist at Yankee Stadium since 2004. That's the 'brief' version!

Who are your musical and non-musical influences?

I am influenced in some way by almost everything I hear in any genre. My influences would be way too numerous to mention. As far as blues goes, as a piano player, I'd say Otis Spann and Professor Longhair cast the longest shadows, and I'm crazy about Larry Young as an organ player. I love all the old blues: Muddy, Wolf, Sonny Boy, the Walters, all of it.

What album has had the greatest impact on your life as a musician?

Unity by Larry Young, 1965, Blue Note Records. One of the few instances where one album showcases something that had never ever been done before, at all, and changed the whole landscape in incendiary fashion.

Is there a particular song that has resonated with you for a long time?

 'This Nearly Was Mine' by Rodgers and Hammerstein, from 'South Pacific'. Rodgers allegedly detested his music being taken outside of the Broadway context, but OMG did he write a deep blues song, without it even being the blues.

What’s your favorite accomplishment as a musician thus far? 

I'd say the acceptance of my first album on 2025, 'Flee Though None Pursue'. See, I stumbled into the Blues as a result of trying out for the IBC (and making it), and after that I just took the material I had to write for that and added to it, and presto, I had a blues album! I threw it out there not having any idea how it would fly, and it flew very well, clocking in at #15 on the RMR Top 200 for the year, and #1 in the Jazzy Blues category, which gave me something of an identity in the Blues arena.

I'm really happy that the Blues has given me a concrete direction to go in after years of wandering from this genre to that one. I may not always be doing what many people consider the blues, but I always have the Blues in mind and channel it my own way. I don't wanna be a copycat; I wanna expend the genre and take it different places where it may not normally go.

Tell me about your favorite performance in your career.

Playing a gig with Herbie Hancock, just me and him. I was playing bass and drums on a sampler while he played piano, so I was his rhythm section for a night. Very intense musical dialog, very life-changing, and he's a really nice man, too!  

What's the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you?

'Make your s**t sound and feel good so people want to hire you!' - Ted Dunbar

What's new in the recording of your music?

I just released my second blues album, 'This Idea of Humanity...', in February of 2025. It's climbing those RMR charts and getting a lot of airplay and nice reviews. I'm writing material now for the next album, probably early 2027.

How has your music changed over the years?

I play in so many different genres that the music changes itself, and I have to just keep up with it. It was an early goal of mine to be versatile enough to acquit myself well in any musical situation. I think I've achieved that, at the expense of maybe lacking focus in creating my own music, The Blues has given me some focus now, fortunately. 

What inspires you to write the music you write? 

Daily happenings, things people say, current events. I just take notes on everyday life. 

What made you want to play the instrument you play? 

I started on organ because that's what my father played, recreationally. He played accordion too, but at age 5 I couldn't even lift his. My Dad as a hobby played hundreds of songs he learned by ear; he couldn't and didn't want to read music and didn't need to. He had amazing ears, could hear any song once and play it on the spot, and I got that gift. He was also a Master Plumbing/Heating/AC guy for a living, and I didn't get those gifts. but I did get the music part from him at least.

How does your latest album differ from any of your others in the past? 

I was determined to be more focused on the new album, because I was way too spread out on the first. Mind you, that was by design, because I wanted to demonstrate as many different facets of myself as possible, so I'm kind of lucky that the first album wasn't so diluted that it lost the Blues element completely. I wanted this new one to be more concise, though, and I think it is. At least as concise as I'll probably ever get!

How are you continuing to grow musically?

You can't every stop growing musically. I get my ass kicked every day, hearing something or someone I never knew about before, and stealing whatever I can from them to throw onto my own stew.

Are there any musicians who inspire you that are not famous? What qualities do you admire about them?

There are many colleagues of mine here in New Jersey whom I came up with who are not famous. They are very fine musicians, focused in their specialties and really good at them. I played extensively with a lot of great musicians here who can do it all, which is a hallmark here in the NY/NJ area. You'd better be able to do it all here if you wanna work!

Describe your worst performance. What did you learn from this experience?

I had a bad night in a jazz club one time as a teenager, or at least one of the guys in the band made me feel like I did. I vowed then and there that I would never get shown up again or be unprepared, and I haven't, really.

How would your previous band mates describe you and your work ethic?

I hope they'd tell you that I was fun to have on the gig, and that I could do it all and do it all well, and that I brought tasty things to the table, and made my s**t sound and feel good!

If you could change anything about the music industry today, what would it be?

Streaming 'revenues' are beyond pathetic. Something should change, but it probably won't.

What are your biggest obstacles as a musician?

My biggest hurdle was always coming up with a cohesive product of my own, since I was so diverse and could never decide on any one thing to do. Now, I've got the Blues to rein me in. I just have to keep creating, which is proving to be easy and enjoyable.

Describe your favorite and least favorite part about being a musician.

I love being a musician who is always in control of what I can do, and is versatile and tasteful enough to always fit myself in the right way. I trust my instincts more now than never musically.  And I love the interplay with other players on the bandstand, and conjuring up moments and feeling the grooves. I am not often crazy about playing in public settings where the music takes a back seat to the audience, but in those instances I block them out and focus on what's happening in the music,

What do you think about online music sharing?

It's too bad that artists now don't have control over their works, and have so much trouble making fair money off their music. There's no point in complaining about it, though; it is what it is, and we all have to find ways to work within the system.

Describe your creative process when you write new music.

Usually, it's this: I could be walking down the street or working in the yard or buying groceries, and I'll hear a song or hear something get said, and out comes the phone and I'm taking notes. I just get a line or the basic idea down, and then go back to them later and finish them. Some make the cut, some don't. Some come out in their entirety in one shot, some take months. It's always different procedurally, and that's really great about it.

Other than being a musician, what was your dream job growing up? 

I never was gonna be anything but a musician. I wanted to be an athlete, but I was terrible at it. 

Give us some advice for new musicians just starting out in the industry.

Decide what you wanna play, get really good at it, be a smooth character, and you should do all right. The industry is not what it used to be, but it's something different now that you have to find your way into and around. 

What is your favorite piece of gear and why?

Hammond B-3 forever! I still have my Dad's B-3 in the basement, and that's the one that's all over my albums.

How do you prepare for your performances and recording work?

I make sure I never go into any situation unprepared. Given that I do every style from classical to Broadway to blues to jazz to Yankee Stadium, it's essential that I am never flying by the seat of my pants.

What artists do you enjoy listening to nowadays?

I'm still hearing stuff recorded 75 years ago that destroys me, and I have to go and research who and what it was. I'll probably never get caught up to today's music. 

What is the best way to stay updated on current news; gigs, releases, etc.

www.edalstrom.com 

What are your interests outside of music?

I'm very into baseball, as the Yankees Organist had better be! I also follow the other NY sports teams.

Are there any artists outside of your genre that have not had much influence on your music that you enjoy?

I am usually listening to people like you describe and trying to figure out how I can roll them into the Blues I am doing, which is one way I am trying to expend the palette. 

Anything Else You Would Like to Include?

I want to thank Betsie Brown at Blind Raccoon Promotions for putting me on the Blues map and getting DJs worldwide to play my albums. I'd like to thank the listeners and reviewers who have been so kind and encouraging. And I will continue to try and keep the blues alive by renovating it however and whenever I can!