Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Come To My World , by Luca Burgalassi , and it's a laid back Eric Clapton/JJ Cale style look at the blues. Opening with My Loving Babe, Burgalassi sings and accompanies himself on guitar and dobro, drums and harmonica. A cool, modern stroke at the blues with a dash of country gives this track a familiar feel. Solid opener. A lightly salted jazz track, All My Blues , has a snappy rhythm section of bass and drums under Luca's flight fretwork and lush vocals. Haunting, Notte is one of my favorite tracks on the release featuring Valentina Sorbera on piano and Holly Kirsten on strings. Ballad, Song In The Distance is a solid radio track with a rich melody and Luca accompanying himself primarily on guitar. Very nice. With a Muddy Waters like dobro slide riffs, and Rob Oliver on harmonica, The Real Me is a cool, updated blues track. Country swinger/gypsy swinger, Tidewater Attitude has traces of Dan Hicks and the Hot ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, On The Other Side Of The Water , from Luca Burgalassi and it's a cool, laid back fusion of blues, country, folk and jazz. Opening with title track On The Other Side Of The Water , Luca Burgalassi presents a soft, rich melodies and harmonies accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica, with Dave Hufstedler on bass, Gianni Apicella on drums and Valentina Sorberra on backing vocals. Soothing. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Blues In My Mind with a James Taylor like style. Trading electric guitar riffs with Franco Ceccanti gives the track an extra kick. Very nice. On Broken Heart Blues , a solid shuffle track, Burgalassi shares the mic with Resa Gibbs who adds real spice. Backing by Jackie Merritt on harmonica and Dave Hufstedler on bass gives the track texture. Easy flowing electric jazz number, Minor and Major Change has a real nice sway and understated but charged electric guitar soloing by Burgalassi a...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, W indward , from Luca Burgalassi and it's soothing and nicely styled. Opening with title track, Windward , Burgalassi leads the way on vocal and acoustic guitar with a smooth blend of backing vocals and instrumentation sounding a bit like James Taylor or an early Crosby /Nash composition. Nice start. With it's calypso rhythm, The Turn is next with a cool bass rhythm by Giacomo Bertaccini and solid percussion by Gianni Apicella. Next up with a smooth boss nova pace on Fields of Innocence , Matteo Fusaro adds clean piano as the track just glides on a cloud. The Sweetest Blues is one of my favorites with nice melodic turns and slick, blues fused guitar riffs and nicely melded vocal harmonies.   Don't Waste Your Time has the strongest radio style melody, complimented by additional harp work and nicely articulated acoustic guitar riffs by Burgalassi. On Down On Me , the band gets a really nice jazzy feel with ...

I just had the chance to review the newest release, Shadows and Fragments by Luca Burgalassi and it's actually quite beautiful. Opening with Shadows , a softly sung ballad over acoustic guitar and electric guitars by Luca Burgalassi, strongly precise bass by Giacomo Bertaccini and light percussion by Ettore Fancelli this is a super melodic opener. Dust and Rust has an open country sound with nicely blended vocal harmonies with Burgalassi on dobro, banjo, guitar, mandolin and harmonica as well as lead vocals, Fancelli on drums, Mimo Pellegrini on bass, Stefano Lunardi on violin and Luca Bellofiore on accordion. An excellent track with nice harmonies, this is great stuff. Nicely arpegiated acoustic guitar and solid vocals are the secret to Dark Cherries and Wine with Franco Ceccanti on cello. With an intricate rhythm and tight electric guitar soloing, this is a cool track. Orange Rooms has a warm, adult vocal, jazzy sound with French cafe accordion and violin ambiance and sli...