Popa Chubby (aka Ted Horowitz) earned his nickname because he is something of a round man, but his blues sound is a good deal more angular and in-the-pocket than his silhouette.  Chubby likes the hard-rockin’ blues, and he indulges that yen to maximum effect on "If the Diesel Don’t Get You Then the Jet Fuel Will" (righteous guitar lead here), "Already Stoned," and "Dirty Lie."  The severely offbeat love song "I’ll Be There For You" provides a different jazzy highlight, and the slow shuffle "Stress Will Kill You Every Time" is a great lyric that could easily become a classic.  The artist is at his best when he drops down into the fractured urban soul vibe of "Play It From the Heart," invoking his Bronx, N.Y., homeboy status.  This is a solid follow-up to last year’s How’d a White Boy Get the Blues? ?PVV
 

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
New York City multi-instrumentalist Ted Horowitz flies back in the face of purists with another intriguing collection of mix-and-match street styles, once again boldly embellishing his blues with rap, hip-hop, and rock sensibilities. In his Popa Chubby performing persona, Horowitz has explored 21st century blues stylings on a succession of record labels, polarizing critical opinion while entertaining an expanding fan base. The Good, the Bad & the Chubby continues the process, as Horowitz blurs the blues lines with 13 original songs presented in a variety of original ways. Since his recording studio is near the WTC ground zero site, it's not surprising that more than a few of the songs are streaked with 9/11 anger and angst. The opening track, a blues fusion with rap and gospel elements, is the best of such tunes, as it proclaims "Somebody Let the Devil Out" with some Dylanesque harp work layered over a churning rhythmic foundation. More traditional--although that's a word out of place with Popa Chubby--material spans the spectrum, from the full-tilt boogie of "If the Diesel Don't Get You Then the Jet Fuel Will" to the slow guitar showcase "I Can't See the Light of Day." --Michael Point 
 
 

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 Another Solid Release From The Big Man!, July 18, 2002 
Reviewer: deepbluereview (  from SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA USA 

Popa Chubby is as much of an entrepreneur as he is a hard working musician. After having a difficult time with various labels, Popa decided to form his own Popa Chubby Productions and started to release his own recordings. Despite the fact that he signed last year with Blind Pig, Popa still maintains his own company and has signed various Brooklyn blues performers such as, Big Ed Sullivan, Arthur Nelson, Mason Casey and a band featuring his wife, Galea. Popa also continues to produce his own CD's for Blind Pig as well as others on the Blind Pig label including, the recent Magic Slim CD "Blue Magic". Also, Popa has landed his own signature guitar, a Korina flying V with P90 pickups, courtesy of Epiphone guitars. Signature guitars are generally reserved for well known stars such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Zack Wilde, Joe Perry, but Popa Chubby?
The CD is enhanced. So when you load it into your computer your screen will immediately switch to a big picture of Popa Chubby looking at you from a broken glass window. You will not be able to use your computer for anything else once this disc is loaded, so if you don't want to stare at a big, imposing, bald man wearing dark sunglasses, while listening to the disc, take it out after watching the video and put it into your CD changer. The video itself is a clip of Popa, in talking head format, with his dark shades and black leather coat, performing "I'll Be There For You". The image will switch from Popa's face to Galea's face and then to scenes of Ian (Spliffy) playing his Soprano Sax near the Brooklyn Bridge. Not something you will want to watch more than once or twice. 
The music on the disc is a blues based CD and, in my opinion, is second only to his prior release "How'd A White Boy Get The Blues". On the CD Popa shows a little more versatility as a multi instrumentalist playing, the electric guitar, slide guitar, and harmonica. However, at least three of the tunes, "If The Diesel Don't Get You", "No Trouble No More" and "Passion", stray from the blues formula and are more pop oriented. The CD's highlights are the delta blues "Somebody Let The Devil Out" and the jazz flavored "I'll Be There For You". Incidentally, the rap based "scratchin" is barely audible or noticeable on the various tracks and is in no way a distraction to what is presented. Overall, not a bad release from this really BIG man. 
 
 
 

This hefty two-decade denizen of New York City's blues scene has finally made a good album. Really good. The guitar-slinger who was born Ted Horowitz has refined his tone, scraping away just a little of the dirt and a lot of the bombast. He's also relaxed a bit, so there's a sense of focus in every daredevil bend and rich melodies in each solo. Chubby's gone textural, too, adding layers of guitars colored by ring modulation and other effects, and even clarinet to the dark-but-devoted "I'll Be There for You." What's best, however, is how he's charged up his songwriting. It's obvious from passages like "When the police are called for domestic dispute/ I'll put down the gun, I swear I won't shoot/ I'll be there for you" that Chubby's broken free of lyric clichés. And the opening track, "Somebody Let the Devil Out," is a killer fusion of stone blues, psychedelic rock and trip-hop that may be the best 9/11-inspired song out there. Yep, from the slow, soulful "I Can't See the Light of Day" to the acoustic guitar-based "Stress Will Kill You Every Time," it's obvious that Popa's got a brand-new bag.

Popa’s guitars and vocals are backed by his own drum programming, bass work, electric sitar, baritone guitar, clavinette, harmonica, and percussion.  He is also backed by Steve Holley on drums, bongos and percussion, while Kris Jefferson appears on the bass.  Mike Lattrell is heard on the Hammond organ, mandolin, and piano, and Galea throws in the background vox.  Tenor saxophone is provided by Craig Dreyer.

The opener rocks out of the gate and responds to Popa’s mood de jour on his "Carrying on the Torch of the Blues".  We get a little Zappa-ish contemporary humor and blues on his "Daddy Played the Guitar and Mama Was A Disco Queen".  The funk-laced "Savin’ My Love Up For My Lover" segues right into the country-styled twang of "It’s a Sad Day in New York City When There Ain’t No Place for the Blues."  From the cutting lyrics to the raggin’ piano the track is a killer.  Chubby throws his entire experience into the stew and gives a fresh breath to his music.  When you hear his slide guitar on the closing title tune it will frost your cake.

Popa Chubby got his mojo working on this release.  The French label Dixie Frog should be applauded for getting this one out!  On the edge blues from a very progressive source.  Get the Chubby and see how Phat you really are! 

Mark A. Cole (Big City Blues Magazine)

On Thursday night, Popa Chubby, the New York blues rocker, staged a three-hour-long mammoth concert in Salzhaus, Switzerland.

This 40-year-old New Yorker's roots lie in punk rock and indeed it is from his punk rock days that he gets that immense energy and perhaps also to a slight extent the subversive element which comes to the fore in every song: his guitar riffs are frenzied and raw; the songs he screams out are loud and would seem much more akin to hard rock than to blues, were it not for that burgeoning heart-wrenching yearning that more often than not culminates in fervent revolt.

It's true he's white; his blues doesn't stem from a history of slavery, but, born in the Bronx in 1960, he too must have experienced the ingredients of the blues for himself, from which he created his own mix of New-York blues. It should come as no surprise then that some of his songs are protest songs in the old/new style. One such example is the song: "It's A Sad Day in New York City When There Ain't No Room For The Blues", which targets the Mayor of New York City, Rudolph Giuliani, and his hard-line methods.

This man, however, who makes his fat part and parcel of his performance, is pure energy: 
nothing can floor him, he never gets tired. A first string breaks. He simply swaps the guitar. 
A second string breaks. He cheerfully plays on. No towel to dry himself off, no bottle of water to keep him going. Energy pure and simple in the most frenzied of guitar tirades and 
screams to the audience. Popa Chubby's blues is not that passive, mournful blues, rife with melancholy, that other blues artists revere, but rather a fierce, rebellious proclamation against all things offensive and a declaration of war on these things. This campaign is manifest in every strand of his music, which leaves everyone overwhelmed, audiences and bands alike.

Because this blues is of the positive, actively aggressive variety, however, he cannot keep to the, at times, close confines of a single style. He ventures out, plucking something from all areas of the music he likes: this broad musical spectrum contains everything from country/pop/kitsch to a vast amount of hard rock, with rap and a little jazz thrown in and finally some excellent and rather groovy funk. Funk, however, brings a new member of the band to the keyboard and electric piano. Still only young, he gives a very fast, soft and varied virtuoso performance with an incredible groove, which neither the drummer nor the bass player can match to the same intensity.

 Shortly before one o'clock in the morning, as the band finally move on to their encores, again of record length, Popa Chubby, after three hours of concert, takes up a position behind the drums and hammers away as if he's just emerged from a 14-hour-long beauty sleep. His drumming is not the most intricate of drumming. Far from it, in fact. But the groove and the energy are there, and the fascination which accompanies them. And so they get on down, with Popa on drums, the keyboard player as percussionist and the bass player Kris Jefferson banging out a funky tune. A true sight to behold, and one which the audience can't wait to see again at the festivals this summer.