Gaetano Letizia – Black Sheep of the Family
Self-produced CD
15 songs – 52 minutes
Based out of Cleveland, Ohio, where he’s been performing since the ’70s, when he filled in for Joe Walsh for a James Gang show at his alma mater, Kent State University, Gaetano Letizia possesses a powerful single-note attack on guitar, mixing blues, jazz, rock and more into a distinctive package. And he returns to the studio in style with this silky-smooth, all-original mixed-media set.
Now in his early 70s, Gaetano grew up listening to B.B. and Albert King, Muddy Waters and other blues greats before launching his career playing alongside drummer June Core, who was with Robert Jr. Lockwood before becoming one of the best musicians on the West Coast. He’s recorded ten previous CDs in the blues and jazz mediums, drawing praise in both Downbeat and Guitar Player magazines. As a singer, he possesses a pleasant, road-worn tenor.
His core group here includes drummer Mike D’Elia and bassist Lenny Gray, his partners in the Underworld Blues Band. Since forming in 2010, they’ve gone on to represent The Forest City in the 2014 International Blues Challenge and to record three high-energy albums, Voodoo Doll & Other Blues Lessons, Resurrection and Beatles Blues Blast, all of which earned airplay across the U.S. and around the globe. A much more subdued set here, they’re augmented by Moss Stanley on Hammond organ and Dylan Moffit on percussion.
“It’s Not Enough” opens the action with an extended six-string solo. It’s a silky-smooth, soulful ballad in which Gaetano addresses his lady at end of a relationship. She’s taking everything and still wants more. The action heats up from the jump of “One More Straw,” a James Brown-style funk that expresses fear about an impending mistake at work that will change everything in a negative way. Letizia’s guitar runs intensify the stress. Things calm down a bit with “Just a Number,” a Stevie Ray Vaughan-inspired blues, which deals with the problems of ageing, expressing: “Age is just a number, baby, and mine’s unlisted.”
The driving “Ain’t Goin’ to Hell” infuses a Tower of Power feel as Gaetano expresses that he’s already been there before the blues-rock title track, “Black Sheep of the Family,” serves as an admission that Letizia’s a problem child and always will be because that’s the way he likes it. The sound shifts back to true blues for ballad “It’s Only Tuesday” with the guitarist laying down sweet, jazzy runs then yields to “Lustville,” a ZZ Top-style boogie, while the rocker, “Holy Ghost Power,” takes listeners to church with its gospel feel.
Letizia’s “What Is a Man” is a blues-rocker that Jimi Hendrix fans will enjoy. It yields to the stellar instrumental, “Aire on the B String,” before the rocker, “Long Way to Go,” finds the singer deals with life’s problems once more. “Never Had a Chance” adopts an Allman Brothers feel as it describes a lady who wants to control everything in a relationship. “The Smiling Dog” comes with a Latin feel before the swinging “Mr. Perfect” and the bluesy pop-rocker, “Silly Song,” brings the action to a close.
With a musical turn in each successive cut, this album offers something for every blues fan. Gaetano Letizia serves up a winner here. Strongly recommended for anyone tired of shredders.