Cool Fool

Cool Fool is a Boston-based trio performing original blues, ballads, and rock with tight three-part harmony. Their music is eclectic and unpretentious ­—most closely described as contemporary Americana with a twist.

Longtime colleagues and friends, Phil, Ron and Diana have formed a three-cornered collaboration where each member brings a separate musical sensibility to create a full spectrum of textures and sounds.

Phil Dubuque, a local boy from Lynn, MA and the band’s lead guitarist, was a career lead vocalist and songwriter with Chrysalis Records. He spent 15 years based in London touring Europe with his band Cottonwood, appearing with Supertramp, Robert Palmer, Jack Bruce, and Procol Harum among others.

Phil’s first original album release in 1968 was with the Flat Earth Society, blending folk and psychedelic rock, as lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist.  (The Flat Earth Society album is featured on the web at www.arfarfrecords.com/arfarf/records/aa42.html.) In Boston, the Flat Earth Society played popular venues opening for such acts as Tom Rush, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, and Mike Bloomfield. When Chuck Berry visited Boston, Flat Earth Society was his backing band.

Ron Mistretta, harmonica, alto saxophone, lead and harmony vocalist extraordinaire brings a blues, jazz, and bop sensibility to the band. Originally from Brooklyn, he performed in a soul brass band (Motown, blues, and rock) in the service during basic training camp and doing USO shows. Out of the army, Ron and his brother did local gigs on Long Island.

Daughter of an opera singer, Diana Parziale is a singer-songwriter and rhythm guitarist who brings to the band mellow mid-range vocals, bass, mandolin and strong rock arrangements. She was at one time a member of a folk-rock duo performing in Boston coffeehouses where her influences became more blues- and rock-oriented.

Having met  while working for a large university in Boston, the trio started performing together for fun at office gatherings.  It wasn’t long before the three members started devoting more off-hours time to practicing music and songwriting. Their first true collaborative effort was the very mellow album “If I forget to Breathe” in 1998, followed by a bluesier “Every Day is Monday “ in  2001. Their new CD, “Beatnik Mojo” has a more Americana/rock feel but continues to offer up the full spectrum of textures and sounds that makes Cool Fool unique.