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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Leeds in England is maybe not the most obvious place in the world to listen to music that echoes genres such as Rootsy and Americana. Dave Hanson, however, manages very successfully to put together a music package that fuses the tradition of the best British songwriting with American West Coast music style, in an excellent mini EP album that offers many promises for a full length debut album to come expected for this winter.
Blind Faith, the title track of Hanson's mini album, is catchy and radio friendly. The song recalls echoes of JJ Cale and Black Keys at the same time, artists which are very close to Dave Hanson's heart.
Four songs that offer different shades of a musician who has, undoubtedly, very interesting artistic intuitions. One of such intuitions is expressed through the sinuous Island Sky, which transports the listeners into a tropical oasis, suspended half a way between the Caribbean and the M6, one of the most well-known British motorways.
If this EP is a taste of things to come, we may expect even more fireworks from the forthcoming album that Dave Hanson will release later this winter. In the meantime, Blind Faith is certainly an EP of great quality and depth that deserves the attention of all the fans of great music at 360 degrees.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Blind Faith EP can be purchased via Amazon
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
The hardest working man in music, the self-made blues/rock Titan, Bonamassa must have heard these comments a thousand times in his career. Music cliches aside, Live At Radio City Music Hall, his new live album (the 14th one in 13 years) offers a different take on the many abilities of the Guitar Virtuoso from Utica, NY.
From Bonamassa's personal perspective, this new live album has many significances. It is the Grand Finale of 36 months spent with his half-acoustic and half-electric band on Tour and also a dream come true, by playing in such iconic venue for a born and bred New Yorker like Bonamassa.
Given the importance of the event and the special location in his heart, Jo-Bo showcases his class and talent in many different ways, by re-dressing some of the songs from his latest studio album under form of more bluesy, folk or even funky shaped tunes. In the acoustic part of the show, with what Bonamassa called The Huckleberries part of the band, songs like Different Shades Of Blue or Happier Times dazzle the crowd with a new light.
The electric part of the show is equally intense. Bonamassa, maybe feeling a little bit the tension of playing on home ground, loses no time in onstage banters or indulging himself on long guitar solos. There is an excellent array of musicians on stage with him and the Guitar Maestro uses their skills and artistry in full. From the raw blues atmosphere of Double Trouble (sadly absent from the cd tracklist) to the rampant blues/rock of One Less Cross To Bear, a new track, in which the Horns Session adds an extra spice to the swaggering sound of this fabulous tune.
Many underestimate a vital point, about Joe Bonamassa. He is not just a hugely talented guitarist but he is a very good singer too. The closing version of So, What I Would Do?, offers one of the best vocal live takes this artist has ever given in his long and glorious career. The standing ovation from the crowd, in the end, is totally deserved.
The Radio City Music Hall live recording is, perhaps, one of the best live albums Bonamassa has recorded. There is a real desire and drive, from the American Guitarist, to showcase his knowledge and understanding of different music genres, without falling into the temptation to play his hits over and over again. And he certainly succeeded in doing so.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Live At Radio City Music Hall will be released on 2nd October 2015 and can be purchased at Mascot Label Group or Amazon
Joe Bonamassa World Tour Dates
Uk Tour:
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
The aim of who creates art, any form of art, is to bring to the masses that message of culture that, in an era like this, too often get soffocated or totally nullified by the Internet and the various Social Networks.
Fabrizio Poggi from Italy is an artist that respects such statement right to the bone. His new record, Il Soffio Della Liberta' (The Murmur Of Freedom) is a labour of love, inspired by the blues culture and the values and the richness of history that this genre carries. The album has been inspired by a theatrical music performance of the Italian Bluesman, celebrating a century of blues through the songs and the stories of those human heroes that have brought the Afro-American population from slavery to freedom.
The album features some brilliantly revised classics, such as Seeger's We Shall Overcome or Dylan's I Shall Be Released and some powerful Traditionals of the Blues, like Oh Freedom or I Want Jesus To Walk With Me.
Poggi has, in this record, stellar Special Guests to help him accomplishing this splendid music project, artists of the highest calibre like The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Eric Bibb, Charlie Musselwhite, Garth Hudson and many more. Musically, Poggi challenges himself in performing those classics, by offering an highly palatable ensemble of Blues, Folk and Americana. And where his voice can't reach, then there is his fabulous harmonica and the class of the musicians accompanying Poggi, creating some really special vibes on this musical history ride. To hear the closing track of the album, the evergreen Amazing Grace, just on harmonica and voice, it is really something special and almost goose-pumping.
There are several references, on Il Soffio Della Liberta', to Martin Luther King and his importance on inspiring Poggi to create this concept album. In one of his most famous quotes, King once said "You can kill the dreamer, but you can't kill the dream". That is the way in which the Italian Artist lives and has always lived his life, by breathing, thinking and living the dream of Blues every single day through his enormous talent.
A work of love, honesty and class. Il Soffio Della Liberta' is musical food for soul.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Il Soffio Della Liberta' can be purchased via Amazon Italia.
Fabrizio Poggi will be touring the United States, please see Tour Dates below:
September 27th - Gruene Hall, New Braunfels, TX
October 2nd - Hondo's On Main, Fredericksburgh, TX
October 3rd - Poodie's Party, Spicewood, TX
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
It's quite remarkable that some artists like Joe Louis Walker manage to sustain an incredible quality of sound and energy as the years go by, even after something like 20 plus albums recorded. Everybody Wants A Piece, out on 9th October, is his new, highly entertaining album, that travels across Walker's music influences since he was a teenager.
On his own admission, to record this album was almost a "no brainer" for Walker and his band, an ensemble of highly skilled musicians that fuses perfectly the spirit and the style of this guitarist Virtuoso.
Walker, together with an indisputable ability as a guitarist, has also the gift to be highly versatile as a songwriter too. Black & Blue is almost a R&B ballad, on which JL Walker talks about conflicts of the heart between a couple and is perhaps one of the songs where the whole band has the opportunity to flex their musical muscles splendidly.
Witchcraft has got a very sinuous 70's funky tempo. One Sunny Day carries instead that blues/rock torch so much loved by Walker throughout his career. Gospel Blues is a delicate instrumental blues piece, where the ability and the class of the American Artist in playing guitar, with that nocturnal, almost intimate sound, raises straight to bar 10 in excellence and talent.
Buddy Guy's cover of Man Of Many Words has got that real depth and intensity able to rival even the original, through the powerful voice of Walker, his formidable band and a horn section that gives the feeling of being in the presence of a true R&B orchestra.
A record that oozes authenticity and passion for the blues and all the different musical shades or colors applicable to the genre.
Everybody Wants A Piece offers exactly what the album describes in his title. Eleven songs that each contain a piece of the talent of this gifted musician. A truly beautiful album.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Everybody Wants A Piece can be pre-ordered on Mascot Label Group website or through Amazon
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
It is always very refreshing to see artists that love to progress their musical education. Chantel McGregor is one of the most gifted artists of the Nouvelle Vague of the English Blues/Rock Invasion. Through her new album, Lose Control, she moves into darker territories, whilst maintaining a refreshing sound, suspended half a way between the 90's rock/grungy style and the lyrical approach of a modern troubadour.
Lose Control has been labelled by the Artist Herself as a "Southern Gothic" music style, with McGregor's guitar leading occasionally into heavier sounds, such as the trilogy of songs that open the album (Take The Power, Your Fever, Burn Your Anger) or walking into acoustic escapisms in delicate tracks such as Home, in which McGregor's voice becomes the centrepiece of the song, showcasing her amazing singing style.
There are some sublime surprises in this highly interesting album. Eternal Dream is a true homage to artists like Jeff Buckley, in which the English artist manages to create an ethereal atmosphere, through the sound of her dreamy guitar and the timeless magic that resonates from McGregor's voice.
Killing Time is a rock riff-packed song, with an angry, racous sound that echoes that wonderful pastiche of sound that bands like Smashing Pumpkins loved to create in the 90s, with McGregor's guitar offering, in our view, the best guitar arpeggios of the entire album.
Chantel McGregor didn't yet finish though, to surprise the listeners. The closing track, Walk On Land, is a contemporary take on the Progressive Rock of the 70's, with a powerful, solid, masterly solo from McGregor's guitar that showcases, once again, her incredible ability.
A strong album, both lyrically and sonically and a solid step ahead in McGregor's career. Lose Control is the resounding message of an artist determined to leave her mark in the future of music.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Lose Control will be released in October 2015 and can be purchased on Chantel McGregor Official Website
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- Written by: Lee Hebert
ARMIES: Playing with Friendly Fire
After twenty six years writing funk-rock songs for the seven piece, high energy, Rustic Overtones, Dave Gutter has written what some say may be his best work yet. The twelve songs that make up the ARMIES record are a meld of electro pop with duet style anthems inspired by French Pop of the sixties. When I explain Gutters description to friends, their reply is, “Well, I don’t really know what French Pop of the sixties is like.” My response is “You know, neither do I, but this record is exactly what I would imagine it to sound like”.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Too Many Roads, the music masterpiece Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado released last year was not just a coincidence. The Danish collective recorded a bunch of excellent albums prior to their 2014 universally acclaimed album but, as often happens in the strange world of the music industry, they got media attention just in their native country.
Last year's album projected Risager and the band so far that their album was recognised as one of the best albums of the year by many Blues magazines and medias in general. Flying high on Too Many Roads' worldwide success, Risager & The Black Tornado decided to record a live album in Germany, one of the countries where some of their largest number of fans are based, through Ruf Records, one of the biggest European Labels and a strong supporter of Risager & The Black Tornado's music style.
The album, released as a CD & DVD, as in the spirit of the Songs From The Road album series, shows in full the immense craftmanship of the whole band. When they hit the stage as a 10-piece mini orchestra, the crowd may just start to wonder how the show is going to unfold and Risager & Co. waste no time.
The attack of If You Wanna Leave is strong, bluesy and ballsy and Risager's voice is one of the deepest, most intriguing voice of the entire music scene. Paradise is sexy in its funky sound, Rock 'n' Roll Ride let the whole band open up their full potential like a music flower, with the the three-piece Horn Section supporting beautifully the strong sonic alchemy coming from Risager & The Black Tornado. Through The Tears is a powerful ballad and one of the most poignant moments of the show, with some excellent killer guitar solos from Peter Skjerning of The Black Tornado, which showcases his brilliancy even further also on the evergreen Let The Good Times Roll, towards the end of the show.
The whole band is an authentic music machine, ready to switch from blues to funk to R&B, incorporating elements of jazz and rock in a formula that, if considered as a winner on a studio recording, on a live show goes few notches further.
Music is a fabulous art and there are very few bands out there, able to sound as good as Thornbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado. A treat for all music lovers.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Songs From The Road can be purchased via Ruf Records or Amazon
