Umberto Porcaro – Take Me Home
EPOPS – 2023
11 tracks; 50 minutes
Umberto Porcaro was born in Palermo, Italy, plays guitar beautifully and writes his own material. This was the first time that I have heard his music but a quick look online shows that he has recorded several albums since his debut outing in 2002 and lived on the US West Coast for a few years in the mid-nineties. On this album ten songs are Umberto’s, plus one written by keyboards man Giulio Campagnolo. The rest of the band is Stanley Sargeant on bass and Federico Paternello on drums. Three guests put in an appearance each: Lurrie Bell vocal and guitar, Anson Funderburgh guitar and Marco Pandolfi harp. The album was recorded in Trieste, Italy and produced by Moreno Buttinar who sits in on drums on one track.
The two opening tracks give a good impression of Umberto’s abilities. “Run Into My World” is mid-paced with lots of expressive guitar, Umberto’s smoky vocals doing the job, with just a little accent; “Out Of The Storm” has plenty of smooth Hammond work to back up Umberto’s stylish guitar flourishes which recall BB King at times. Lurrie Bell brings some Chicago power to the shuffle “It’s My Pleasure To Play The Blues”, exchanging vocal and guitar choruses with Umberto, his more jagged style bringing a contrast in style. In this modern age one assumes that Lurrie (and Anson) added their parts remotely, but you would not know from listening to the tunes, all credit to Umberto and Moreno. Umberto requests “Don’t Push Me”, a short, snappy tune driven by urgent drumming and some wah-wah inflected guitar, so maybe the result will be to “Bring Me Down”, a slower tune with delicate guitar and warm waves of Hammond.
“Love Is Risin’” is a lovely tune with excellent guitar and double-tracked slide and the grammatically suspect title “You Was” has a moody feel; the vocals, however, sound rather strained on both these tracks. The title cut “Take Me Home” has a relaxed style with brushed drums, warm Hammond and subtle guitar fills, suiting Umberto’s vocals well before he cuts loose on guitar in the closing section. Anson duels with Umberto on “Cool World”, adding a distinctly Texan vibe to the track which rocks along attractively. We return to a moodier feel on “Rollin’ Down Below”, the heavy sound achieved without the bass player, so one assumes that the deep drone in the background is a keyboard effect; Marco’s harp adds further to the eerie feel of the track. The album closes with Giulio’s “Mountain Cheese”, a jazzy instrumental that harks back to the cool organ trio sounds of 1960’s artists like Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff.
Overall there is plenty to enjoy here, especially Umberto’s guitar work which always tastefully fits the tune. Add in the sprinkling of guests and you have a very listenable album which avoids the excess of so many guitar-driven outings.
