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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
It wouldn't be unfair to say, especially in the last 20 years, that some of the best and most refreshing realities of Blues and Blues/Rock have arrived from Scandinavia and one of the torchbearers of such an inspiring movement, without a shadow of a doubt, is Finnish singer/songwriter Micke Bjorklof.
Bjorklof has repeatedly fallen into the radar of Bluebird Reviews through recent years, showing always, together with his trusted band of brothers called Blue Strip, an artistic drive and a vision second to none, matched beautifully by his many skills as a singer, songwriter and as a multi-instrumentalist.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
It's truly a fascinating story, the one belonging to the 25-years-old American guitarist and singer/songwriter D.K. Harrell. Born and raised in Louisiana on bread and Blues by his parents, as an only child, the singer/songwriter started learning to play the harmonica at the age of 8 and, by the time Harrell was 19, he got his first paid gig. It did not take long for D.K. Harrell, then, a couple of years later, to find himself rubbing shoulders on stage with some true giants of Blues and Blues/Rock, like Bobby Rush and Gary Clark Jr, for example, among many more.
Harrell's many talents as a guitar player and also as a singer, did not go unnoticed by the Blues Aficionados of the United States. The guitarist's popularity as a complete artist has increased exponentially, especially in the last few years and his vast knowledge and understanding of the Blues, which Harrell has kept on developing more and more as the years went by, brought the young and very talented American artist to finally release his first solo album, called The Right Man.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
The very first time that our website had the opportunity and the privilege to review an album from Minneapolis-born pianist and singer/songwriter Scottie Miller, it was in 2017, with the release of Stay Above Water under the Scottie Miller Band name, an album that strongly impressed our website through the power of the collective's eclectic sound and Miller's ability in penning strong songs and delivering them through his very recognizable deep and powerful voice, together with his remarkable ability as a pianist too.
Given the fact that Miller is an artist that, by his own choice and throughout his career, has never fallen into the temptation of signing for a record label, preferring to that to have total artistic freedom and control of his music, it is perhaps not surprising, taking also into consideration the 2020 pandemic that brought the whole world to a stand still, that it took a little while for the American pianist to be able to release a new project that, as it is always the case with Scottie Miller, would perfectly reflect his vision and his personal artistic journey.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
It's somehow baffling to see how many incredibly talented musicians out there do not get the attention that they deserve, for not only their artistic merits, but also for the original and deliciously quorky ideas that they put through hard work and dedication, into the development of contemporary music.
On that note, our website has been absolutely thrilled to write about the new live album of a truly accomplished British collective called Native Dancer, a band that marries genres like Jazz, Soul, Hip-Hop and R&B in their music formula with such gusto and inspiring musical creativity.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
There is often the impression that, in music business, it is hard to be able to rise again, emotionally and professionally, when different things hit hard a musician. There have been, sadly, too many examples, in music history, of artists falling off the wagon and going through a downward spiral with very little chance of getting back on their feet.
Thankfully, this is not the case of Louisiana-born singer/songwriter and Guitar Supremo Lance Lopez, who, in later years, has faced quite a few personal obstacles not very easy to overcome.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
For any music artist, to be able to write and record a full concept album, must surely be the highest goal possible to achieve, because such type of projects involve different art forms, not limited solely to songwriting, arrangements and vocals but it also extends to complex and extensive narrative of topics very close to the heart of the recording artist.
Somebody that has certainly achieved said goal, in our personal opinion, is the Italian singer/songwriter and visual artist Alessandro Zannier, better known with his stage name Ottodix, who has, through his eigth and brand new album called Arca, written a hugely intriguing project based on a hypothetical (but perhaps, not too much hypothetical) futuristic scenario about an ark (Arca, as the album title translates) shaped in a form of a tortoise, conceived to save the human race from cataclismic events that may destroy the world in decades to come.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
It is quite refreshing, especially in the current music world, to hear records made by music artists that do not stick to a particular type of labeling, genre wise, but they rather prefer to let the music flow naturally, in a very organic and healthy free form style, where improvisation becomes a keyword to unleash freedom of expression and an artist musicianship at its very best.
In live performances, especially, the aforementioned aspect becomes even more relevant, because it speaks even more about not only the depth and quality of individual musicianship, but also about perfect interplay between band members, a key factor that it is not always easy to master, during a live show.
Read more: Doug Deming & The Jewel Tones - Groovin' At Groove Now!
