Castiglia is one of the most powerful artists in the US Blues scene at present. This album, ‘Grits & Glory’ is, at its core, a love song to the British Blues scene of the sixties and seventies. Not a slavish cover of any old Rory or John Mayall tunes but numbers written by Castiglia and a few others as well as ‘Afro Blue’ by Mongo Santamaria and ‘Yer Blues’ by Lennon/McCartney. Recorded in Studio 3 at Abbey Road, it brings Castiglia’s journey back to its heart. “Coming up playing in Chicago and down the East Coast defined my playing style and my take on the Blues. But at the same time I love the back and forth within the Blues from America to the UK and back again, both places have their own impact.”
And what we have is an album where you can hear faint echoes of Clapton and Green and Jeff Beck, not to mention The Beatles, coming together with Freddie and Albert King. Castiglia’s guitar is fast and gruff with great riffs and speedy solos, matching his gruff and articulate vocals.
His band are perfect for his style of music, the engine room of Cliff Moore on bass and Ray Hangen on drums driving hard and holding the music tight. David Gross delivers rhythm guitar alongside Challen Piano on Wurlitzer and Lewis Stephens on Hammond & piano. Bruce Bears Wurlitzer is sublime.
I love the way that his music can swing from hard, fast and sweaty Blues in ‘In My America’ to a straight pop number in 'Milk Is Still Good’, and that his voice is flexible enough to do justice to many different styles while retaining its identity. His guitar playing is top notch, absolutely on point.
One of the better Blues albums I’ve heard this year and very well worth delving into.
