Interviews
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- Written by Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
There is a marvelous sounding word, in Brazilian language, that translates the feeling of what we call in US, UK and even in Italy, Nostalgia. That word, in Portuguese/Brazilian, is translated Saudade. A word often connected to Latin music coming from that part of the world and present in many lyrics of songs from poets of traditional Brazilian music, from the late great Joao Gilberto to Antonio Carlos Jobim or from Caetano Veloso to Toquinho, just to mention a few.
But Saudade is also something that can relate to other music genres, something that, in later years, London-based Punk/Rock trio Yur Mum have found out by themselves, when they decided to get together and form this highly energetic band. When (at the time) Brazilian guitarist and now drummer Fabio Couto and his partner (in music as in personal life), singer/songwriter and bass player Anelise Kunz met Hungarian guitarist Akos Gado in London, there was a unanimous desire to form a band that would fully express Couto and Kunz’s desire to get back from a more direct and raw sonic expression of their artistry as musicians and fulfill Gado’s rock’n’roll dreams.
Read more: Rock'N'Roll Saudade - In Conversation With Yur Mum
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- Written by Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
1977 has been a magic year for music in general but, for Blues and Blues/Rock, a very special one. Some of the most formidable and talented guitarists and singers/songwriters of the current generation were born, coincidentally, all in that same year, all elevating enormously, through their musicianship and in the last three decades especially, a genre that was lacking in creativity, after the passing of inspirational and pivotal artists of the genre like Jimi Hendrix, Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gary Moore, among others.
Undoubtedly, one of the finest Blues/Rock artists emerging from that special year for music, is New Jersey-born Pedal Steel Guitar master Robert Randolph. Since 2001, together with his band called The Family (the name is not coincidental, being the band members all related to Randolph), this eclectic and ultra-creative artist has brought to the contemporary Blues/Rock table exciting new ideas, by adding to the genre an explosive combo coming from Randolph's musical roots, strongly rooted into Gospel, Funk, Soul and Church Music in its entirety, the kind of music the American artist grew with.
Read more: Bridge To Brighter Days - In Conversation With Robert Randolph
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- Written by Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
The world has gone through a lot of transformations, in the last half a century. Economic, political and social changes that, day after day, impact our lives and often create those many twists and turns happening on some stage of our existences, sooner or later.
With that in mind, the last 12 months of one of the most respected and talented American Blues-Rock guitarists and singer/songwriters, Albert Castiglia, have certainly been a real emotional roller coaster, with the artist discovering to have a daughter he never knew existed and even two grandchildren. To an event like this, which would change the dynamic of anybody’s life, the Florida-based artist could just respond to such enormous joy using the only imaginable vehicle for a musician like him, speaking with his soul through music and songs.
Read more: The Life I Am Living - In Conversation With Albert Castiglia
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- Written by Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Often life takes many of us through unexpected paths and journeys. Journeys which are not pre-designed in the slightest by us but it just happens that, sometimes, we people suddenly find ourselves, at a point of our existences, to start swimming in deep waters, facing tough times and difficulties that really make or break us.
The music business has witnessed, through the years, stories of many artists struggling with personal issues of different sorts, some of them, unfortunately, embarking a journey of no return, others, like the highly talented Blues/Rock guitarist, singer/songwriter and producer Mike Zito, battling their way back to life after, in Zito's case, defeating his personal demons displayed under forms of alcohol and drug addictions.
Read more: Return Ticket To Life - In Conversation With Mike Zito
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- Written by Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
There are not many meaningful music genres in the world as the Blues. A genre immediately associated to the history and tradition of a great country like the United States Of America but also to the tribulations and the hard times that the originators of said genre have been through in almost a century since the birth of Blues.
From Son House to R.L. Burnside, from Muddy Waters to Howlin' Wolf, from Leadbelly to Elmore James right through the three legendary King, Albert, B.B. and Freddie, Blues has gone through many different stages and evolution, during the last century but fundamentally, Blues at its very core always remains strictly linked to those artists that have lived and breathed the genre all the way, throughout their whole lives.
Read more: The Blessed Man - In Conversation With Bobby Rush