Artist................... Albert Castiglia
Album.....................A Stone's Throw
Label.....................Blues Leaf
Genre.....................Blues
Release...................04/23/2006
Street....................xx/xx/2006
Encoder...................LAME 3.97 beta
Quality...................--aps 44.1kHz/joint
# NAME TiME
01. Big Toe 05:32
02. Walking Blues 05:08
03. Youth Wants to Know 05:22
04. Ghosts of Mississippi 04:19
05. Hurricane Blues 05:00
06. Party 'till the Cows Come Home 03:53
07. Hoodoo Man Blues 03:55
08. Speed on 03:25
09. Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt 03:53
10. Crying the Blues 05:03
11. Someone Else's Problem 04:35
12. Sittin and Waitin 03:36
What an absolute pleasure it is for me to be reviewing
this CD. After reviewing products from so many unknown
bands, in so many different cities, states and
countries, I am really looking forward to writing about
a performer that is a South Florida local and, in
addition to having seen about one hundred times, is a
very dear friend - MR. ALBERT CASTIGLIA.
Sure, the cynics will be wondering if this review will
be biased? If it may be over complimentary? And, if I
may get over zealous with my praise? To all of them I
say this - "PROBABLY"! On the other hand, what I say
matters not - "A STONE'S THROW" will speak for itself
and definitely back up anything that's said here
verbally.
"A STONE'S THROW" is a mix of half a dozen covers, a
few tracks written by GRAHAM WOOD DROUT - another South
Florida local and fine musician himself - and a few of
ALBERTS originals. Joining ALBERT, on Lead Vocals and
Guitar are STEVE GASKELL on Bass, JERRYY MASCARO on
Keyboards and Background Vocals, BOB AMSEL and NED
BERNDT on Drums and SANDY MACK on Harmonica.
The CD opens with "BIG TOE". The first few bars lead
you to believe it's a slow acoustic solo. Then, out of
nowhere, ALBERT and JERRY light it up. With the rhythm
section in a nice groove throughout, the guitar and
organ - along with ALBERT'S vocals - highlight this
track about a chain gang worker who, out of frustration
from being abused by the big boss man, cuts off his big
toe with his shovel. His rationale is that if he can't
walk, he won't have to work. Can I borrow that shovel?
On "WALKING BLUES", a Robert Johnson cover, another of
ALBERT'S strengths is highlighted - his smoking slide
guitar playing. On this one he's relentless. JERRY on
piano and NED on drums provide lots of hot support.
Some fancy picking and more great slide add up to a hot
serving of Delta Blues on "THE GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI".
Other than some very soft and very nice background
harmonica by SANDY, this one is all ALBERT. The guitar
work is nothing but masterful.
"HURRICANE BLUES" is a song all too familiar to us
South Floridians and our geographic neighbors. On this
one ALBERT sings of summertime activities familiar to
our residents. No, I don't mean going to the beach,
sunning or surfing, I'm talking about battening down
the hatches, hunkering down, putting up the shutters
and getting out the wood and nails. On this track
ALBERT'S guitar playing tears it up as bad as any
hurricane can.
"PARTY TILL THE COWS COME HOME" is another highlight
amongst highlights. On this one it's all about
everyone. With JERRY leading the way on piano everyone
falls into a very fast and fantastic jam. What else
would you expect on an Elvin Bishop track? Immediately
following is "RISE AND FALL OF FLINGEL BLUNT", a toned
down instrumental on which STEVE and BOB provide ALBERT
with lots of rhythm.
"CRYING THE BLUES", one of his originals, finds ALBERT
doing what he does the best....singing and playing the
blues. This track features vocals you can feel and has
some of the best guitar licks on the disc.
"SITTIN HERE WAITIN" closes out "A STONE'S THROW" with
a bang. It's one of those catchy sing-a-longs that gets
all your limbs moving and just plain old makes you feel
good. A big part of that is JERRY MASCARO'S wicked
piano playing. He's one of the best piano players in
South Florida and although I have seen him play in
several bands, JERRY'S at his highest level since
joining ALBERT.
Although ALBERT CASTIGLIA'S been around the block a few
times - once as lead guitarist for Junior Wells and
once as the opening act for Sandra Hall's tours, this
time around it's him the people are wanting to see,
it's him that's blowing away audiences and it's him the
cheers, applause and curtain calls are for..........and
deservedly so I must say.
We use LAME 3.97 now, which is approved.
53:41 min
77,10 Mb