Dave Moretti Blues Revue – That’s Swing!

Bottleneck

https://myspace.com/davemorettibluesrevue

10 Songs Time-40:14

These Italian bluesmen certainly know, love and play the blues with a devoted intensity. Dave Moretti is a first class harmonica player. His gruff voice is fitting for the blues, but his heavy accent tends to detract from enjoying the songs at times. The first track is relatively easy to understand. After that deciphering the words gets to be a chore. That said, the musicianship throughout is top notch and possessing an authentic vibe along with genuine enthusiasm. Damir Nefat is in command of his jump blues guitar skills. The rhythm section can stop on a dime and give you nine cents change.

“Good Morning Judge” draws you right in with its’ energy. It’s great! It sounds like Louis Prima sings the blues. The title track is the first sign of accent problems and the song is too repetitive. We get it already…”That’s Swing”. We want the funk and we get it on “Bad” with jumpy saxes, harmonica and guitar fighting it out with the tricky rhythm section. These guys can surely play.

Blues perfection rears its’ head on “Gsus” were Dave displays his flexible harmonica chops along with Damir’s slow, well thought out guitar solo. “Cattle Raiding” could of just as well been sung in a Italian. You can pick out the occasional word. As usual the music is just fine. Maurizio Pugno contributes some nice guitar to the splendid jump blues of “I Walked Away”. Things close out with the snappy “You Know Why” which features for my money the best harmonica workout on this recording.

At the conclusion I’m left in a quandary. The music is superb and uplifting. Getting through the thick accent detracts from the listening experience. After all music is a form of communication as well as a means of enjoyment. If the message or story doesn’t get across there is a problem. It’s too bad because everyone involved delivers quality and heartfelt music.