Italy is one of those countries that get inevitably associated to many stereotypes, either positive or negative but certainly not immediately connected to Blues music. The truth is, stereotypes aside, Italians have always had in their DNA traces of Blues in their blood, the main proof being that the first ever person worldwide to write a sheet of Blues music, back in 1908, was a gentleman called Antonio Maggio who wrote a tune called I Got The Blues.

Despite the fact that the Blues in Italy has then, through the years, been relegated for reasons unknown to the back seat of the Italian music culture by the local medias, that has not certainly stopped this wonderful country to keep producing Blues artists of real quality, from Guido Toffoletti, Roberto Ciotti, Fabio Treves and Fabrizio Poggi to the Nouvelle Vague of Italian Blues musicians like Marco Pandolfi, Roberto Luti, Adriano Viterbini and Mike Sponza, among others.

It's no coincidence that some of the aforementioned musicians appear also in this very well assembled homage to the history of Blues called The Blues Masters: An Italian Tribute. The album, dedicated to the memory of two Blues Maestros like Guido Toffoletti and Herbie Goins, is a true work of love of the music association Blues Made In Italy, whose aim for this record is to help to divulge the Blues message and educate the current generation of Italian musicians about the importance of Blues in music history.

The Blues Masters: An Italian Tribute incorporates 20 classics of the genre recorded by the original artists between 1929 to 1981 and here compiled chronologically and re-interpreted by Italian Artists, often in a very original way. There is half of the Blues encyclopedia present on this record, with the Italian Blues musicians covering songs belonging to artists like Arthur "Blind" Blake, Skip James, Robert Johnson and Vera Hall right to the more "contemporary" Blues giants like Freddie King, Howlin' Wolf, Son House and Albert King, just to mention few of them.

The Italian artists covering those classic have done a remarkable job on this record, all showcasing class, originality, passion and enthusiasm for this project without lacking respect to those Blues giants and their songs in any moment of the album. Instead, their fresh approach on the originals helped to build, through their inspired interpretations, an ideal bridge between the past, present and perhaps even the future of this ultra-centenary music genre. 

The album has been printed in 300 copies only and, for each copy of the album purchased, the 10 per cent of the profits will go to associations supporting the Italian families suffering for the dramatic aftermath brought by the many earthquakes that stroke repeatedly this beautiful country in later years.

The Blues Masters is a record that displays honesty, integrity, passion and, most of all, big love and respect from the Italian artists to the Blues. All qualities that define perfectly the heart and soul of a nation like Italy and its talented musicians.

The Blues Masters: An Italian Tribute is out now and it can be ordered via e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.