Enrico Crivellaro, guitarist

"Mojo Zone" features 70 minutes of genre expanding blues guitar instrumentals, showcasing the incredible sonic range of one of the most gifted young guitarists working on the blues scene today.

For those of you who have the CD, here are some extra liner notes written by Enrico. They will help you better understand the spirit of the CD, the music, and will familiarize you with the band members.

I’ve always had a fascination with instrumental Blues music. It requires a somewhat different approach than Jazz. If—generally speaking, of course—a Jazz song develops around a melody, a Blues tune has more to do with the rhythm and the lyrics. Therefore instrumental Blues is not really about playing a melody and improvising through chord changes, rather it is the art of using an instrument as a substitute for the human voice. I like to think that I can sing through my guitar, not just play solos through it. This has always been my endeavor as a guitarist, and it is both very challenging and rewarding.

Through the years I have always played instrumental Blues, and I have always had the aspiration to, one day, record an all-instrumental CD. I am excited that Electro-Fi Records had an interest in such idea, and gave me the opportunity to make it happen. I am grateful for their open-mindedness.

The CD itself is in many ways the outcome of my long-time friendship with the extraordinary keyboardist, Pietro Taucher. Pietro and I grew up in the same town, Padova, Italy, and played countless gigs together. We were very young, and he was so committed that he would carry his Hammond B3 on the roof of his Volkswagen Golf! As the years went by we moved on and our lives took different directions. I went to the United States and started to play with some great Blues bands there—James Harman, Janiva Magness, Jason Ricci, Lester Butler, and so on. Pietro got a job playing the keyboards for the orchestra of the national Italian TV, RAI, but his heart was always in Blues and Soul music. His passion for the records of James Booker, Jimmy McGriff and Donny Hathaway made him one of world’s best Blues keyboardists—and I am not just saying this because he’s my friend, but because it is indeed true.

Pietro was noticed by powerhouse singer Sharrie Williams, from Saginaw, Michigan, who called him to join her band. He has been touring all over the world with Sharrie and her phenomenal band, The Wiseguys, for several years now. During these years Sharrie and the Band have collected two Blues Music Awards nominations, have played every possible Blues Festival and club, and have reached the hearts of people everywhere. I have personally seen people cry their hearts out at Sharrie’s concerts. She is incredible, and so is the band.

For a twist of fate, both Pietro and I ended up recording for the Electro-Fi label separately. I did the “Key To My Kingdom” CD, with Finis Tasby and James Harman as guest singers, and Bruce Katz on the keys. Pietro recorded “I’m Here To Stay” with Sharrie Williams. It was quite amazing for us to realize that we were on the same label, and such a good label too, many years after we left our hometown and went in different directions.

For the past two or three years, whenever possible because we spend most of our time on the road, Pietro and I have been playing together again in our town Padova. What you hear on Mojo Zone is what we play live, and when I started to think about this record it was natural for me to include Pietro in the project. Indeed it’s been a great idea—his contribution to the album is outstanding, and our musical affinity is so strong and developed, that I just love to play with him.

We found in Simone Serafini and Silvio Berger the perfect match. Simone is a great, young musician from Italy. He is equally good at playing upright and electric bass, and equally good at playing Jazz and Blues. It’s not easy to find someone who plays Jazz festivals all over the world, who at the same time is deeply into Blues music. He particularly loves Chicago Blues, and his eyes lighten up when I mention Jimmy Johnson—that’s his hero. For our music, he’s the perfect bass player. On “Hubert” his bass lines are dynamic and ingenious, but at the same time rough and physical, like that tune requires. But “Midnight Blue” displays all of his sophistication. He really covers a lot of ground.

So does Silvio Berger, who is of gypsy origins, and grew up in Vienna, Austria, where he now resides. The first time I played with Silvio I knew that he was the man for the job. He is one of Europe’s best drummers in my opinion, especially when it comes to the shuffle groove. He swings it hard, but he also has that huge backbeat on the snare that reminds me of one of my favorite drummers ever, the great Sonny Freeman from B.B. King’s band back in the 1960’s.

Silvio is also a hell of a funk drummer, who has performed with Chaka Khan and Joe Zawinul, just to mention a couple!

I am excited to have such a great band. They are all great musicians who love the Blues to the bone. You can find more information on each one of the band members at these links:

I should also mention that Mojo Zone has been recorded with the help of some outstanding engineers. Huck Bennert and Mark Donahue, who took care of mixing and mastering respectively, have recorded, mixed and mastered pretty much every recent Ronnie Earl album, including “I Feel Like Goin’ On” and “Hope Radio”. I love the sound of those records, and I was very lucky to have Huck and Mark onboard for Mojo Zone. We recorded at Artesuono, a small but very nice studio in Northern Italy, near the city of Udine. The recording engineer, Stefano Amerio, is a true genius. One of the albums made at his studio is the recent winner of a Grammy, no less, in the Jazz category. He has been working with such labels as Blue Note, ECM, Verve.

The shuffle groove is the foundation of Blues music, and one of my favorite things to solo on. It is also one of the most difficult to play. Shuffling on the drums, in particular, really is an art. I am delighted to have Silvio Berger in the band, for he has understood the art, and mastered it. It is amazing how different a shuffle beat can be—think for instance Jimmy Reed, Magic Slim and Albert Collins. They all play shuffle most of the time, but they sound so different from one another. There are myriads of variations on the shuffle, both rhythmic and harmonic, and Say No More is one of our interpretations. We added a couple of chord changes on the turnaround, and a progression that leads to the ending.

It is a R’n’R tune, but more in the style of 1960’s Freddie King, rather than Bill Haley… from the title (thank you Lynne and Andrew for suggesting that!) to the groove.

It goes without saying that I am a huge Freddie King fan. I’ve been lucky to hear a lot of great Freddie stories from Finis Tasby, who was his bass player in Dallas. And in 2008 I had a chance to meet Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones, who was also in the band in Texas. He has a Gibson Les Paul that Freddie King used to play regularly. When Andrew handed that guitar to me for a jam session, I was ecstatic—even more so because Willie “Big Eyes” Smith was on the drums, and Dave Maxwell on the piano. Sometimes life is just great!

This is probably my favorite tune on the CD. Not a blues tune per se, but I think it is very soulful. It starts like a ballad and has a short Memphis-soul-style bridge at some point. From about half way through the song, to the ending, we go into an extended guitar solo. The way the solo builds, while the song is vamping out, might recall the treatment that Derek Trucks would give to a tune like this—I am obviously talking about the arrangement, the dynamics and the overall intention, rather than the guitar sound and the solo itself.

I’ve had the chord progression in the back of my mind for at least fifteen years, but it was only after Pietro put his magic on the keys that I realized that we had a good song. His intro is outstanding.

The title is related to something that happened to me in Atlanta, but once the song was recorded I thought it would have been nice to dedicate it to Sean Costello, a phenomenal blues guitarist, and a friend, who passed away prematurely in a Atlanta hotel room. I met Sean when he was fourteen, and he was already a guitarist beyond compare. What a loss.

Well, the title says it all! It’s a rocking tune which we made up on the spot in the studio, first and only take, and it is inspired by the wild guitar that Hubert Sumlin would play on something like this. The first chord change comes after 4 minutes or so, we were thinking about re-cutting the tune and doing a shorter version, but it would have never sounded as genuine as the first take. So we just left it like that. As a matter of fact, it was a complete impromptu: I just started to play the guitar riff, and the guys came in just right—particularly Simone with that bass line from outerspace. It’s great when something magic happens in the studio while the tape is rolling—and it’s impossible to recreate that feeling with subsequent takes.

This is a tune with a funk vein, named after the “Casa Babylon” club in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, which is one of my favorite places in the whole world where to play music. The club is across the street from the beach, and to begin with it is just amazing to be playing right in front of the Pacific Ocean. On top of that, the nights with live music at the Babylon are always wild. You’ll see people dancing on the tables, people dancing on the floor, people dancing on the sidewalk, people dancing on the street and people dancing on the beach. It’s fantastic. Sometimes people who had a couple too many tequilas try to dance on the ocean, but they soon realize it doesn’t work out.

I often do this tune live. It is loosely based on Billy Preston’s “Will It Go Around In Circles” and on the version that Larry Johnson used to do of that song. Speaking of which, the club in Mexico got its name from a Manu Chao record entitled “Casa Babylon”. Now the name has gone back to a CD…things do go in circles!

I used to go to the blues jam hosted by Larry Johnson in Santa Monica, CA, every Monday night. I did it for years, and I would always go home spellbound. In fact, Larry was one of the best guitarists ever in America. He spent many years touring the chitlins circuit with ZZ Hill, Joe Tex and many more (he is not to be mistaken with the great Larry Johnson from New York, who plays acoustic Blues) , and he could play anything from Lightnin' Hopkins to George Benson, with so much feel... Some nights people like Chaka Khan would show up at the jam, and Larry would know any song that she would call. He was that good. Larry didn’t care much about touring, so he never garnered the country and world-wide recognition he deserved. Yet he was a legend in Los Angeles and in his native Oklahoma. Legions of guitarists would go to his blues jam, it was a free guitar lesson of the highest caliber!

Larry would often play a smoking slow blues and hand the guitar over to me right in the middle of the song, and that was the start of the jam...it was scary to play after him, but he knew and I knew that there was no other way for me to learn. That’s the old-school way of teaching a young guy how to play, and I will never forget Larry’s encouragement.

Larry passed away a few years ago, ironically on the same week that I bought my first mini-disc recorded. I went to the jam with the new device, happy that I could finally put his music on tape, and when I arrived I was told of his sudden death. It was devastating, and it still bothers me that I don’t have any recordings of his guitar playing. But his memory lives on, and this slow blues is a heartfelt tribute to Larry and to the many unsung heroes who from the sidelines have made the history of Blues music.

When I talk about Kenny Burrell, I am partial. I have all of his records, and I think he is one of the most soulful musicians in jazz history. He is the only guitarist who has ever played with Duke Ellington, and the only guitarist who has ever recorded with John Coltrane. Incidentally, he is B.B. King’s favorite guitarist, if that says anything. I had the fabulous opportunity to study with him at UCLA. It was absolutely incredible to learn about jazz music from someone who was there and invented it.

Midnight Blue is one of his great tunes, which surprisingly doesn’t get covered very often. I guess jazz musicians think it’s too bluesy, while blues musicians think it’s too jazzy. One of those things. We covered it on “Mojo Zone” mostly because it is one of my favorite tunes to play and to listen to. The original version is quite different, it is more up-tempo, while we tried to turn it into something with a late night mood. Nonetheless, Pietro’s organ comes in heavy, and that’s great! His solo is mesmerizing, it sounds like a cross between Dr. Lonnie Smith and Larry Young, but it’s neither of them. It’s just Pietro at his best.

This is another of my favorite tunes from one of my guitar heroes. I’ve always acknowledged that it is very hard to make this type of tunes sound bluesy rather than cheesy, and in this case I am very happy with the result. We managed to make the tune sound more Earl Hooker than mariachi—that’s good for a blues record! Especially courtesy of our drummer Silvio, who handles the transition from rumba to shuffle and back in a way that is very “ghetto”, so to speak…he plays like Odie Payne would have played.

Guitar Rumba is one of the less known Earl Hooker tunes, and as far as I know very few people have covered it on their recordings (most notably Sue Foley and Dave Alvin), so that’s a plus for me—I like tunes that are somewhat obscure.

This is our version of the Mel London classic, which I always loved. It is one of my favorite songs in the Chicago Blues repertoire. The versions by Junior Wells, Byther Smith and Magic Sam are all outstanding—check them out! We played this tune a lot like Ronnie Earl’s “Blues For The West Side”, and this is in fact intended to be a tribute to the great Ronnie. However, I tried to stay close to the original by recreating, with the guitar alone, that great effect of “call and response” that in the original version happens between the voice and the guitar.

It’s named after the Cape Flats township of Cape Town, in South Africa, which I had a chance to visit some time ago. Although decades of apartheid have condemned most South African townships to poverty and social misfortune, the people there are some of the most beautiful and welcoming I’ve met in my whole life. And I should mention that South African music, with its combination of relentless groove and genre contamination, is one of the world’s most soulful and inspired types of music. Blues, jazz, funk, soul, gospel are all mixed with African traditional music, and the brew is explosive. If you have a chance, read Gwen Ansell’s book “Soweto Blues” for a great historical analysis of the evolution of jazz music in the townships. You’ll find some amazing parallels with American Blues.

If music is hot at night in Cape Flats, during the day I love the slow, lazy atmosphere. So the title was just right for this relaxed slow blues, that showcases some great piano playing by Pietro.

I recorded this one using a double-neck baritone Danelectro guitar, through a Leslie rotating speaker. The guitar is tuned to B and has a ferocious tone (it has a low B as the lowest string, and a longer neck than a regular guitar, so it’s half way between a bass and a guitar), and the Leslie gives it a crazy sound. It’s something Jimmie Vaughan experimented with in the early days, and the result is so powerful that—given that Danelectros are nicknamed “Dano”—I thought that Dano-Mite would make a good title.

I love to take the Danelectro on the road, but too often I can’t—the flight case is as big as an aircraft carrier!

Enrico Crivellaro
Mojo Zone

After meeting Italian guitarist Enrico Crivellaro in Boston, when he was soaking up all the Blues he could find like a Deep Sea Sponge, I thought it was great to meet him and wished him well. Then about ten years back, while visiting my friend Desire (another acquaintance met at the House of Blues!) in Orange County, we went to see some Blues at the Blue Café in Long Beach. Jim, the drummer of that band recognized me and had played with James Montgomery in the 80s. A familiar figure approached me and with an Italian accent said, "Greg! How you doing?" It was Enrico

After I returned to Boston I heard that Enrcio hooked on with Royal Crown Revue. He also played guitar for James Harman and Janiva Magness. He made a lot of friends on the West Coast, one of them, Finis Tasby sang on Enrcio's Key to My Kingdom recording.

We reunited the pair at the Boston Blues Festival and Enrico was the presenter of the Blues Trust Lifetime Achievement Award to Finis in 2006. Local Blues Belter Brian Templeton, who sang with Enrico on tours of Italy, played harp that day and Monster Mike Welch and Sax Gordon sat in for a memorable performance.

Mojo Zone is an all instrumental recording, made with his hometown band. He has taken all of his experience, listening, learning and traveling the world over the past fifteen years pursuing his passion and the listener is the beneficiary. Anyone, who enjoys the music of Ronnie Earl, Hubert Sumlin or Earl Hooker will adore this release. There is also a hint of Santana influence.

Hooker's Guitar Rumba is fairly faithful to the original, but the instrumental version of the Mel London tune, made popular by Junior Wells, Come On In This House is a nine minute burner that bears little resemblance to the song in its lyric form. He notes that the song is inspired by and dedicated to three guitar geniuses; Byther Smith, Magic Sam and Ronnie Earl. He covers another song by one of his teachers, Midnight Blue by Kenny Burrell. The other eight tracks on the release are Enrico originals, but if Ronnie Earl hears them, he may think that he released a record that he forgot about! In the best Ronnie Earl tradition, Crivellaro dedicates two songs to guitarists dear to his heart; Hubert and Blues For Larry Johnson

Whether there is a huge market for a release like this is immaterial. Enrico Crivellaro has made a huge contribution to the Blues landscape in 2009. Those who believe in true talent and virtuosity and seek it out will be ecstatic to run across his artistic statement.

There are lots of happy stories of American & Canadian blues artists doing well in Europe. There are not nearly as many about Europeans doing well on this side of the pond. Italy's ace guitarist Enrico Crivellaro is one of them. He's a frequent visitor here, playing with the David Rotundo Band on No Looking Back most recently. His Electro-Fi debut, Key To My Kingdom, featured vocalists James Harman & Finis Tasby. He's featured on their albums as well: Harman's Takin' Chances (Cannonball) and Tasby's What My Blues Are All About (Electro-Fi). He also backs Janiva Magness on her My Bad Luck Soul CD on Blues Leaf. Not being a singer, the idea of an all-instrumental album has obviously been attractive and a visit to electro-fi.com shows he has given it much thought. You'll see there that he's almost as good a writer as he is a guitarist and I especially appreciated his explanation of the difference between jazz and blues soloing. He lavishes praise on his band and they deserve it: Pietro Taucher on keys, Simone Serafini on bass and Silvio Berger on drums. You'll be amazed at his playing as he pays creative tributes to Hubert Sumlin, Larry Johnson (an almost unknown but highly regarded LA guitarist who refused to travel), Kenny Burrell, Earl Hooker & Ronnie Earl. On other tracks you hear the influences of an exceptionally well travelled and open-eared bluesman, from Chicago to Mexico to South Africa, all of which was poured into a recording studio in Udine, Italy. Out comes a generous guitar blues extravaganza that you'll be listening to for years.

Enrico Crivellaro – Mojo Zone

Electro-Fi 3411

Sub-titled “The Blues Guitar Of Enrico Crivellaro”, “Mojo Zone” delivers a 72minute masterclass in the art of blues guitar. All instrumental recordings can be a real minefield for all but the greatest guitarists – but with this set Crivellaro puts himself on a par with the likes of Ronnie Earl and Duke Robillard.

Crivellaro opens with “Say No More”, an apt title for a shuffle that demonstrates his mastery of tone and phrasing – his guitar mixing elements of Earl’s Ronnie and Hooker along with Jimmy Johnson … but, as he does with every other track on this set, using the influences as a springboard for his own creativity.

“Sweet And Skanky” – the title says it all .. although it could have just as easily been called “Greasy And Funky” or “Lowdown And Dirty” as he conjures up visions of a hybrid of Duane Eddy and Albert Collins. “Last night In Atlanta” is a tribute to Sean Costello; a mellow and melancholy blues that melds Santana with Wes Montgomery – the whole bathed by Pietro Toucher’s mellifluous Hammond C3.

I assume “Hubert” is a tribute to Hubert Sumlin as it is an eccentric performance riding a pulsing riff underpinned by tribal drums (Silvio Berger) .. his guitar buzzing, twisting and bending with shades of Magic Slim, Eddie C. Campbell and, of course, Sumlin, all fired by Toucher’s percolating C3. “Casa Babylon” is a swinging jazz inflected number that recalls both Robillard and Burrell with Toucher laying down Dave Brubeck styled piano – “Cape Flats” has a wistful Cooderish feel replete with stark drumming and rambling piano – whilst Earl Hooker’s “Guitar Rumba” emanates a “surf blues” mentality .. think the Ventures meet Hooker and Billy Flynn.

“Blues For Larry Johnson” finds Crivellaro in a deep bluesy mood, guitar and piano letting notes cascade like a blues shower of rain whilst Toucher lays down some fine Groove Holmes styled C3. Junior Wells’ “Come On In this House” is Crivellaro’s tribute to three of his favourite guitarists – the number permeated with the raw aggressiveness of Byther Smith, the tone and phrasing of Ronnie Earl and the soulfulness of Magic Sam.

Add in “Dano-Mite” – played on a Danelectro double-neck baritone guitar, through a Leslie cabinet – which comes over like a blues summit between Jimmy Reed, Earl Hooker and Duane Eddy (again) prompting Crivellaro to comment “Dig that tone” (I do and you will) – and a cool and moody rendition of Kenny Burrell’s “Midnight Blue” and you have a set that can only come highly recommended.

(www.electrofi.com)

Rating 10