Luca Giordano – Let’s Talk About It
Blue Crawfish Records
11 tracks
Luca Giordano is a great Italian bluesman who here has released his third, fine solo album. Let’s Talk About It features eleven tracks, 8 originals by Luca Giordano and three songs written by Mighty Mo Rodgers, Eric “Guitar” Davis and Sean Costello. Born in 1980, Luca moved to Chicago and has been a student of the blues. He learned at the feet of Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Sharon Lewis, James Wheeler and others and has appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival and other events in the US. He released two solo CDs after moving back to Italy and also collaborated with Quique Gomez and the Chicago 3011 Session and made recordings with them.
Luca has toured on his own and with Bob Stroger, John Primer, Jimmy Burns, Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne, Sugar Ray Rayford, Nora Jean Bruso, Billy Branch , Chris Cain and countless others. He has appeared all-across Eastern and Western Europe along with North and South America. His work with Might Mo Rogers from Chicago and his band has also helped him to grow in his blues depth of knowledge and feeling.
Luca Giordano handles the guitar and vocals here. On the Hammond organ and piano are Abramo Riti while Walter Cerasani is on bass and Fabio Colella is on drums. Guest appearances by the legendary Mighty Mo Rogers and tenor saxist Sax Gordon round out the album nicely. Gordon did all the horn arrangements on the four cuts he appears on. Some special appearances by Italian artists Alessandro Di Bonaventura (trumpet), Walter Monini and Nicola Di Camillo (bass), Lorenzo Poliandri and Eric Cisbani (drums), and Chiara Giordano (backing vocals) also enrich the production and sound. Lastly, Francesco Cerasoli appears on a guitar solo in “Cold Winter”.
The CD opens with “Let’s Talk About It,” a soulful and funky slow to mid-tempo instrumental with thoughtful and pretty guitar work, nice horns and a neat organ solo. “Teasin’ Me” is next, a peppy and bright little blues number with cool guitar work and a really good piano solo. Luca’s guitar is well done, clean and airy. “Next Time” continues to jump and swing with horns and piano accompaniment. Gordon rips off some great tenor sax for us to enjoy and Luca adds a stinging guitar solo to close things out and then the band and he takes us home to conclude a very cool number. “Cold Winter” follows, a slow and dirty blues with some impassioned vocals and piano and organ accompaniment. The big organ solo is slick and well done and then Cerasola climbs aboard for his guitar solo and it’s really special, too. Mo Rogers fronts the band for his song “Movin’ Day,” and hits it out of the park. His vocals are outstanding and the feeling is deep and full of dark emotions. The lyrics describe a split up and a couple moving out of their place together. Sad, slow, somber and really full of feeling- so well done. Giordano’s guitar plays to the emotions and then Luca adds his vocal verse with equal feeling. What a great cut!
“Flat 915” follows, picking up the pace just a little and Luca sings with hopes of finding his woman back in their flat. The horns again do a great job and Giordano’s guitar is again well paced and played with excellent tone. Giordano goes to the hills a little bit with “Heartquake Blues” which is a bouncy song with a lot of interesting guitar and organ in it that showcase Luca and the band again. “Buzios Blues” has a little bit of honky-tonk feel to it; to be frank, I had to look up what Buzios is. It’s a beach resort in Brazil and Luca’s giving us a rundown of his blues from the town. The piano is really well done here and, of course, so is the guitar. Next up is Sean Costello’s “Have You No Shame,” a slow blues about lost love. The piano help set the tone and feel for the sadness expressed here and then the guitar comes in to seal the deal; the organ lays over both to blend and add to the emotion. The album concludes with “Days of My Life,” a funky and soulful piece by Eric Davis. Slow blues, down tempo, dark and well supported by the horns and organ who help the vocals with that down and dirty feel. In his final guitar solo, Luca wails and stings with his instrument oh-so-sweetly and takes us out to a stark but cool ending.
The growth of Luca Giordano as a blues musician has been a wonderful thing to watch. Every release shows a growth in his musical maturity. His approach to playing the blues shows reverence and deep appreciation for the music. He is a consummate musician, singer songwriter and all-around great guy! Highly recommended!
