After nearly 35 years as a guitar player and singer backing many noted bandleaders, San Francisco Bay Area musician, Gary Vogensen, is “stepping out.” His self-produced CD, “Don’t Tell Me About Love,” features songs about life and love, some with wry humor, set in a mix of rock, jazz, blues, and funk rhythms. The CD is Gary’s first solo effort. The 13-song CD includes half a dozen tunes written or co-written by Vogensen, including the title cut, “Don’t Tell Me About Love,” as well as covers of songs written by other American songwriters including Willie Dixon, Alex Call and John Hiatt.

Vogensen’s backup band is an “A Team” of longtime friends and fellow musicians including bassist Steve Evans (Coco Montoya, Roy Rogers, Brian Auger), drummer Paul Revilli (Joe Louis Walker, Angela Strehli, Chuck Profit), and keyboardist David Kessner (Graham Nash, Lydia Pense and Cold Blood, Mike Bloomfield). The CD also includes cameo appearances by guitarist Elvin Bishop, vocalists Angela Strehli and Maria Muldaur, harmonica ace Norton Buffalo, Saxophonist Terry Hanck (Elvin Bishop), Keyboardist Jim Pugh (Robert Cray), and others.