Grooveyard (label)
22 August 2018 (released)
22 December 2018
I kind of want to just pass this off as generic Blues rock with very little about it that says anything new. But I can’t.
It is fairly generic Blues/Rock with a twin guitar lead, gravelled vocals and driving rhythm section but that is the joy of the album.
They don’t try to reinvent a very successful wheel but rather go to the heart of the music and revel in the power and the freedom of playing music that moves them.
They are a father and son team of Rocco & Rocco Jnr Calipari with both of them playing guitar and fronting a dynamite rhythm section of Roberto Agusto on bass and Roger Femali on drums and wailing Hammond & Wurlitzer keys.
Right out of the gate this had me gripped. There is a strong undertone of funk in their music and a great snap to their playing. They really get the groove working and there were times I really was bouncing around my room with the sheer pizzazz of it all.
I love Rocco Snr’s slide playing and Jnr’s soloing – nothing you haven’t heard before but they make it sound fresh and alive.
13 tracks and every one shows a different side of the band whether it is the funk of ‘Work’ or the hard Blues of ‘Going Down’ or the sweet Blues/rock of ‘Soul Free’ ( a great closer for the album).
You could say that you can hear this kind of music at any weekend Blues club in the UK and you wouldn’t be wrong but, and this is a big but, you will not often hear a band playing with such unfettered joy or such talent. Despite my jaded personality I loved this one – in the words of #45 – Bigly.
