Victor Puertas and Luca Giordano – Night Time Boogie
http://www.bluecrawfishrecords.com
11 tracks
Luca Giordano, Victor Puertas and the Netto Rockfeller Trio offer up a superb set of originals and tasteful covers for us to enjoy with this album from 2024. Recorded in Brazil, this is one heck of a great album!
Luca hails from Italy, Victor and the trio are from Brazil and they join forces to deliver four songs penned by Giordano, one by Puertas and a half dozen truly delightful covers. Luca moved to Chicago at 25 and worked with great Chicago Blues artists including Sharon Lewis, Willie “Big Eye” Smith, James Wheeler & the Rosa’s Lounge All-Stars and many more. He returned to Italy and tours the globe with his music. Puertas has become one of the big names in the music scene, playing blues other forms of African American music in a number of bands and ensembles. He has shared the stage with many notables, including Gary Primich, Little G Weevil, Steve James, Nathan James, Mark Hummel and many more.
Luca and Victor share the lead vocals. Giordano is on lead guitar and Puertas is on harp and piano. The trio are Netto Rockfeller on guitar, Guilherme Ambrózio on bass and Danilo Handem on drums. Mayra Aveliz backs vocals on the Sam Cooke tune.
“West Armitage Shuffle” features a beautiful interplay between harp and guitar as Puertas and Giordano strut their stuff. “Night Time Boogie” is a grooving, smoking hot tune. The harp is slick, the backbeat is cool, the guitar is super and the boys sing up a storm. The harp is the biggest standout here but the guitar gets time to shine, too. Puertas fronts the band for the Sonny Boy II cut “I Don’t Know.” He sings with authority and Giordano lays out some mean licks on his guitar before Puertas gets his harp into action. Another fine track! Luca leads Big Maceo’s “Kidman Blues,” a swinging and jumping blues. Puertas plays piano and Giordano give us some mean licks to appreciate here. More good stuff!
Giordano leads us through “Offline” as he trades vocals with harp licks from Puertas. Puertas blows with a bluesy greasiness that is just outstanding. Next is the eternally cool cut “You Send Me” that is crooned out sweetly by Puertas. The guitar solo is well done, Puertas supports the cut on piano with another solo and the trio backing them all do just fine! Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson’s “Kidney Stew” follows, another swinging cut with great guitar, vocals and harp.
“Inside Stuff” follows, a slow and delightful blues sung by Luca and delivered with a gritty and authentic Chicago blues feel. He bemoans eating Chinese food; Victor blows some truly grimy and dirty harp that is just astoundingly good AND LATER Giordano’s guitar rings sweetly. The original Sonny Boy’s “She Was A Dreamer” is next. Puertas handles vocals and the quintet jumps and jives nicely with this one. More excellent harp and guitar for our listening pleasure and the piano accompaniment is fine, too. Big harp soloing is a joy to listen to once again. “I Had A Dream” returns us to the world of “Cleanhead” Vinson. A somber, slow blues that wafts along prettily with guitar and piano accompanying Puertas’ vocals. Giordano is up first on soloing and it’s a super and emotive set of licks as Puertas fills in on his piano before making it an instrumental duet. ”We Came Here To Party” concludes the album. The tune is hot and jumping with piano striding, harp blaring and guitar ringing Puertas sings and the boys do a great job in support. Puertas and Gioradano let it all hang out and they rock and have a great time with this one.
I loved this album. Giordano spends a lot of time touring and playing in Brazil and he, Puertas and the trio are tight as hell in playing together down there. They deliver some fine tunes. These guys may not play here in the U.S. much but you can enjoy their CD or stream the music on the major streaming platforms. These are some great songs played by some really amazing musicians. I highly recommend this album!
