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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
The album title describes perfectly the tale of Runrig, one of the most loved Scottish bands, their friendship, their passion for music and the love for their musical tradition.
In almost half a century, Runrig have grown so much and gone very far, both artistically and musically. Nothing better than their fourteenth and last (according to the band) studio album just published, called The Story could close the history of this eclectic Folk/Rock band.
The Story is majorly a celebration, as it should be. This time round, to seal their splendid career, Runrig has chosen to have in the control room, working as their producer on The Story, the band's youngest member, Brian Hurren. That was a clever choice for Runrig. The album is vibrant, joyous and sometimes nostalgic. What really impresses is how well the Scottish band manage to fuse the sounds and tradition of their mother land with a more contemporary rock and foot-stomping music style.
The title track The Story, that opens the album, synthesizes all that Runrig is about. Written and sang both in Gaelic and English, the track has an infectious beat, despite the slight sadness that emerges from the beautiful lyrics from Rory McDonald, vocalist and bassist of the band.
Onar travels at the same pace of the opening track of the album, with Malcolm Jones' guitar producing some of the best riffs present on the album. The band shows impressive form not just on the more fast paced tunes like the one just mentioned. 18th July spills moments of great eclecticism, starting almost as an R&B kind of tune, then switching to a more robust rock tempo until reaching an almost folk-ish finale, through Malcolm Jones' and Brian Hurren's fabulous job on accordion.
The record is a real journey through the artistic life and musical development of a band that, despite not selling exactly millions of albums, has always managed to have a packed house wherever in the world they played, through the great love and devotion of their many fans.
The closing track Somewhere is the perfect epitaph to end a special record like The Story. Supported splendidly by the 32-piece Prague Philarmonic Orchestra, Somewhere seals The Story with such uplifting elegance that it becomes almost impossible not to get a little emotional, throughout the song.
The Story is an artistic jewel that encases the past, the present and the future of one of the most skilled Scottish bands ever. A jewel that will shine in people's memories for years to come.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
The Story can be purchased at the band's label Ridge Records
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
There is always an element of fun in being unable to label a record within a genre. And with the debut album of Coolhand, there is fun from beginning to end on this very palatable record.
Luke Bradshaw (Guitars) and Daz Edwards (vocals), a.k.a. Coolhand are excellent musicians and they do not misplace a note on this highly eclectic and well executed album. The Welsh band from Cardiff manage to assemble 12 tracks that travel across the sound of America's West Coast, through tracks like Give Love A Chance, with that irresistible Calypso atmosphere running in the background, Can't Carry On and Pretender Love.
Thanks to the supported of some really talented guest musicians playing on the record, Bradshaw's sometimes robust and dreamy guitar sound and Edwards splendid vocals have the opportunity to stretch their phenomenal music background even further and every track is a sonic surprise every time.
Lyrically, the band show also some very clever ideas, like on the opener Virtual Life, a foot-stomping blues about the concept of how the virtual world of the Internet almost takes over our lives, making truth become fake.
Dead Man's Hand is a wonderful folk/rock tune about the last night of the Wild West legend "Wild" Bill Hickok's life, penned by an excellent solo of Bradshaw's guitar and a splendid contribute on Piano and Hammond by Gareth Kedward.
J&J is the perfect closure to Coolhand's debut album. The instrumental, played solely by Bradshaw on guitar, carries echoes of Ry Cooder and for few minutes, the green land of Wales becomes a slice of Texan desert, through the beautiful harmonies created by Luke Bradshaw's guitar.
A solid debut for a band that has certainly got a lot of creativity, skills and a deep understanding of music of many different genres. A promise of even more beautiful records to come. Cool on so many levels.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Coolhand can be purchased on the band's website Coolhand
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Danny Bryant is an artist that loves to challenge himself and his audience. Blood Money, Bryant's new album, is yet another eclectic and impressive work from the Norfolk's bluesman.
The album is a clear statement of love and respect from the British guitarist to blues and to some of Bryant's biggest music influences. One of the main goals successfully achieved by Danny Bryant on Blood Money is the ability to recreate the sound of his all-time music heroes, from the likes of Albert Collins (on the instrumental On The Rocks) or Albert King (on Unchained), whilst still maintaining his characteristic trademark sound.
The title-track is one of the highlights of the album and the first song to be cut for Blood Money. The duet with Walter Trout is contagiously gripping and incendiary and the two bluesmen combine a formidable interplay, both on guitars and vocals.
Slow Suicide is another excellent moment of the album, lyrically and musically. Inspired by the loss of one of the guitarist's school friends at a very premature age, the sound of Bryant's guitar is highly intense and evocative. Without a doubt, one of the most beautiful and emotional peaks of Blood Money.
Sugar Sweet is powerful and exudes rock and roll from all angles and it is Bryant's personal homage to ZZ Top's guitarist Billy Gibbons and his inimitable guitar style. Just Won't Burn, which features Bernie Marsden on guitar, is sweet and sexy at the same time, with Bryant's and Marsden's guitars gliding together in perfect harmony.
Whereas, to some, the album may not sometimes sound cohesive in its entirety, Blood Money is an album packed with some real musical delights and great ideas. Danny Bryant is an artist in constant evolution and his will to explore and broaden the sound of blues in many different ways is refreshing and highly entertaining.
Blood Money is certainly a step forward to worldwide stardom for this brilliant artist and a record to love and treasure.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Blood Money is out now on Jazzhaus Records
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
There are few bands that are able to perfectly incorporate several musical decades in the manner in which Simo, a band from Nashville, are able to do.
Let Love Show The Way is the rite of passage of a band that in the past five years has developed a wonderful pastiche of psychedelic sound, supported superbly by the timeless guitar sound that JD Simo, the frontman and guitarist of the band manages to infuse. In 2011, after several years of hard work spent as a session man for other musicians and recording as a solo artist, JD Simo joined forces with Adam Abrashoff on drums and later with Elad Shapiro on bass, releasing their first record simply called Simo.
Simo's new album brilliantly describes the robust and pure sound of a band that does not use at all or at least minimizes effects like overdubs. Becky's Last Occupation has the sound and the powerful cadence of the best Led Zep musical moments. I'll Always Be Around has the stylistic caress of the Allman Brothers Band best period while Stranger Blues, an Elmore James cover, has the sound vehemence of Cream's early days.
Let Love Show The Way is an album that relies heavily on the immediacy and the intuition of three musicians who know each other, musically, by heart and they all know how to deftly move through the eclectic sound of their musical DNA.
Please is a true moment of R&B high stature. Long May You Sail has that infectious rock tempo that gets into the skin on first listen, while the long instrumental phrasings created between the three musicians on I'd Rather Die In Vain explores a dark and morbidly fascinating musical territory.
When you think you have found out everything about this amazing musical project called Simo, the acoustic instrumental Today I'm Here, the band tribute to one of their friends, takes you totally and pleasantly by surprise, through the soft sound of JD Simo's slide guitar.
To buy the extended version of this record with the bonus tracks is an absolute must. The three bonus tracks included in the special edition of the album are tunes of great impact and artistic depth. Let Love Show The Way is a rock song about love inspired by the impact that love can give to the lives of us all, if left free to express itself without fear. Sonically, the song is embroidered by a sound that resembles partly the psychedelia that defined the sound of bands like The Black Crowes and partly the grunge-y sound of early Pearl Jam. Ain't Doin 'Nothin' is a beautiful suite recorded, along with the whole of the album, at the Big House in Macon, the historical recording home of the Allman Brothers Band. The band leaves their improvisational skills as musicians to gallop freely, creating sonic alchemies of the highest quality.
Please Be With Me is a sweet, acoustic cover of a band called Cowboy, which recorded this tune together with Duane Allman not long before he died. The song was the last to be recorded at the Big House, before JD Simo & Co. went there to record Let Love Show The Way.
If on one hand it's true that Simo learned and applied on this record the lessons of some of the greatest rock and roll pioneers of different decades of music, on the other hand it is also true that they did so by modelling a sound of their own, by creating visceral and immediate musical montages, played with great talent. A beautiful record of timeless rock and roll.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Let Love Show The Way is due to be released on 29th January 2016 by Mascot Label Group/Provogue
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
There are cities around the globe that have got very strong legacies with music history and New Orleans in USA is, without any doubts, one of those cities.
Born and bred in the Louisiana state's largest city, the guitarist and songwriter Keith Stone has been breathing and living the strong music message of his hometown all his life at 360 degrees. The Prodigal Returns, Stone's solo debut album, it's more than an album. It is a love letter to his roots.
Stone travels, throughout the album, with the grace of an experienced raconteur on playing Louisiana's most recognisable music trademarks. Better Things To Do is a robust R&B track, enriched by a superb Horn Session, whose contribution will play a vital part through the whole album. First Love is a slow and sexy killer blues, in which Stone's artistry emerges in full not just through the beautiful sound of his guitar but also through his deep and meaningful singing voice.
The opening Prelude is the most delicate intro to a record one can think of and, at the same time, to the closing track of the album Just A Closer Walk With Thee. Stone couldn't prepare the listeners any better to the musical journey that he has planned for them. Dr. John's is the special guest on this spine-tingling piano solo opener, which evokes beautifully the atmospheres of the old New Orleans of the '60s and '70s.
Atmospheres that get amplified even further through the album closing gem, the above mentioned Just A Closer Walk With Thee. The tune encapsules splendidly the whole meaning of The Prodigal Returns album, through a sonic feast of jazz, blues and dixieland.
The album has still got so much to offer. Take Me Home is a ballad that has got the soul style typical of the Stax Records period and Stone's voice is such a perfect fit that would have easily made Jim Stewart (Stax's Founder) a very happy man. Time To Move On is a smooth funky tune, in which, together with Stone's great guitar sound, David Hyde on bass (which has also written all the horn parts as well on the album) gifts the song with a nice, slick tempo, creating the perfect sonic ground for Stone's improvisations.
The Prodigal Returns is a very accomplished record and a revered homage to the sounds and history of one of the most important musical cities in the whole world. And full credit to Keith Stone for delivering such a classy record.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
The Prodigal Returns can be purchased on Louisiana Music Factory
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Music in general always sounds better when it is pure, without any studio trickery. And when it comes to blues, to have just a voice and a guitar it is all that you need. Tim Williams is a Canadian artist that has been taking his love and passion for the genre, playing stages, all over the world. To the point that, in 2014, he won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, a well deserved award that confirms the stature of Williams as one of the best contemporary interpreters of traditional country blues.
So Low is a musical journal that digs deeply into the history of the blues through Williams' intense vocal deliveries and great guitar ability. From the 1920s-1930s, homages to artists like Big Bill Broonzy (My Big Money) or Blind Boy Fuller (Pistol Snapper) continuing to more recent times, through an early hit from Johnny Cash (Big River) until reaching one of Williams' all-time blues heroes, Mose Allison and his classic If You Live.
Tim Williams is also an excellent and clever songwriter, with the added bonus of possessing a witty sense of humour. More Peppers In Your Chili professes the artist's deep love for spicy food in general, with highly entertaining results. Anywhere C/O The Blues is Williams' personal way to express in music his high appreciation and love for a genre that has always been part of his life and will always be. His Gretsch Alligator Resonator guitar means every note Williams plays and it constitutes one of the most intense moments of the album.
Despite the title of the album, So Low is a record that travels very high in terms of music quality and guitar skills. It is a delicate and accurate message of love not just for traditional blues lovers, but to anyone who appreciates the values of making honest music with the magical sounds of the guitar and a soulful voice. An absolutely terrific record.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
So Low can be purchased either via ITunes or through CD Baby
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Recorded at the Z7 in Switzerland just a week after the release of their second album, Second Nature, this 2-CD and DVD live release captures perfectly the spirit and the musical philosophy of the supergroup Flying Colors.
To label this band as Prog-Rock, would be very limitative. Yes, it is true that the structure of their songs is fundamentally a progressive one. But it is also true that, through each band member's immense talent, every song takes a different tangent to other musical planets, where funk, hard-rock and even folk magically fuse together and create a sonic pastiche of a mesmerising beauty.
Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy know musically one another very well, due to their militance together in that wonderful music project that was Transatlantic. Portnoy's drumming style cadences each song with such perfection and military precision and seems to become one sonic body and soul with the harmonies created by Neal Morse's keyboards.
Steve Morse's imperious guitar sound offers the right backbone to the heart of a band absolutely unique in its style, while Dave LaRue, one of the best bass wizards worldwide, provides not just the perfect completion to the Colors' grand rhytm section but also some tremendously beautiful fast slap bass solos, as in Open Up Your Eyes, Mask Machine or even better, in Forever In A Daze. Casey McPherson's intense singing style on vocals is the perfect vehicle to complete the musical box created by the American Supergroup.
As the album title suggests, the whole of Second Nature, with the sole exception of Lost Without You is performed on the night and quite rightly so. The songs are vibrant, full of pathos, energetic and carry the vibes of an array of highly skilled and incredibly talented musicians. The Storm is one of the many special moments of the show, and the quality of the performance coming from the stage is even better than the original in studio. On this track, Steve Morse's guitar solo is absolutely fabulous. Cosmic Symphony has such a fascinating structure that goes far beyond their progressive trademark style. Every single change of musical tempos throughout the song follows an unusual sonic asymmetry that makes perfect sense. More than a song, it resembles the soundtrack of a dream.
Flying Colors are not just an incredible band with a truly distinctive sound and vision but also one of the most perfect music machines in the music business. And Second Flight: Live At The Z7 confirms that hundred per cent.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Flying Colors - Second Flight: Live At The Z7 can be purchased via Mascot Label Group or via Amazon