The Blues, as a genre, keeps on evolving, as the years go by and very often, many contemporary artists of this genre do not think about paying respect enough to those Founding Fathers that have created, close to a century ago, the musical platform to their love for this wonderful genre.
It's therefore a blessing, for our website, to stumble from time to time to records that celebrate and homage those aforementioned fabulous artists that so much have done for the birth and development of the genre, just like the new one from the Italian Bluesman Hubert Dorigatti called A Walk With Blind Boy, a tribute to the musical career of one of the greatest of Blues music, the late great Blind Boy Fuller.
One of the many positive points, about A Walk With Blind Boy, is the low-key playing style that Dorigatti has expressively chosen to play and sing the 12 cuts included in the album, 11 of which are Fuller's originals while the closing track has been purposely written by the Italian singer/songwriter as his own personal way to thank Fuller for the impact and inspiration Fuller has made in Dorigatti's musical growth.
Make no mistakes though, about the high level of quality expressed by Hubert Dorigatti, in this touching homage to Fuller's songbook. Armed predominantly with his acoustic guitar, throughout the record, Dorigatti's vocal delivery in each of the songs included in A Walk With Blind Boy is always soulful, exquisitely delivered, thanks to Dorigatti's wide singing range and extremely evocative, throughout the whole of the record.
Thanks to the minimalistic arrangement of the songs, which is, by the way, perfectly in line with what was Blind Boy Fuller's favorite performing style back then, every song of the album is enriched by Dorigatti's baritonal voice and his remarkable talent in playing the acoustic guitar too, creating a storytelling ambience that brings the listener straight into that Piedmont Blues and East Coast Blues playing style that was at the core of Fuller's playing style.
Dorigatti chooses cleverly the songs to be covered, within the A Walk With Blind Boy album; whilst classics like Piccolo Rag and Walking My Troubles Away are very recognizable classics of Fuller's vast repertoire, the Italian singer/songwriter clearly enjoys to surprise and delight his many fans also through little more obscure tunes of Fuller's songbook, like Untrue Blues and the rather entertaining only instrumental of the album, Jitterbug Rag.
A well-deserved mentions go also to tunes like Screaming And Crying Blues and Painful Hearted Man, two songs where, in our personal opinion, Dorigatti delivers two sensational interpretations, both vocal and musical, that are real testimony of the Italian artist's deep respect, love and understanding for one of the most inspirational Bluesman ever lived.
A Walk With Blind Boy is an album that entertains, excites and emotionally moves the listener, just like Blind Boy Fuller would have done, should he be still alive now. It is not easy to reach such musical standards, on a cover album. Hubert Dorigatti clearly did.
A Walk With Blind Boy is out now and it is available to be purchased via Appaloosa Records