Blues Bites - July 2012 By Reverend Keith A. Gordon, About.com Guide Lino Muoio – Mandolin Blues Italy's Lino Muoio is a fine lap steel guitarist and a maestro of the mandolin, an old-school bluesman whose tastes run towards what the modern blues fan would consider antique ragtime, jug band, wing, and country blues – the decidedly rural side of American roots music. Muoio has been plying his trade for better than two decades now, performing and recording with his band Blue Stuff. With several albums of distinctive acoustic blues under his belt, Muoio decided to follow in the footsteps of such unlikely blues instrumentalists as Yank Ranchell and Rich Del Grosso and record an album of songs showcasing the mandolin. Muoio has done well with Mandolin Blues, a fourteen-track collection of entirely original material that nevertheless evokes the sound and memory of the aforementioned antique modalities of the blues. The lyrics are in English and evince a universal appeal while the studio band is comprised of blues and jazz players from around the world, proving once more the international reach and appeal of the blues. The sumptuous CD packaging includes full song lyrics and credits as well as a few photos, a lush presentation lacking from a lot of American indie CD releases. It's the music that matters, though, and while Muoio may be influenced by blues-rock guitarists like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, what you'll hear on Mandolin Blues sounds more like Blind Blake or the Mississippi Sheiks. Using different vocalists for texture, the performances are full of life and energy. "Girl From Arkansas," with its underlying piano licks, Muoio's spry mandolin picking and double-entendre lyrics, and Bob Ray Green's jaunty vocals, sounds like a modern take on an old jug band classic. The languid "Bound To See My Babe," by contrast, offers up a lazy soundtrack beneath Lonnie Wilson's gravelly, Tom Waits-styled vocals. The instrumental "Memphis Blues" perfectly captures the mongrel bloodline of the city's musical heritage, mixing blues, jazz, jug band, and string-driven country to great effect. The swinging boogie-blues of "Harmony H35" is a tribute to both Yank Ranchell and the mandolin itself, while the energetic "Slidin' Glass" spotlights Muoio's immense talents as an instrumentalist. If you'd like to hear the blues from a different perspective, it would be well worth your while to seek out Lino Muoio's Mandolin Blues. Grade: A (Cheyenne Records, released December 11, 2011) Lino Muoio - Mandolin Blues, Cheyenne Records Lino Muojo has spent the last two decades as a fixture in Italy's blues scene. This is his second solo CD, the first to completely focus on mandolin blues and he ranges in style from Yank Rachell's country blues to swing, jazz, bluegrass and more. All fourteen cuts were written my Muoio, giving us a good accounting for his songwriting abilities. Joining Lino in the CD are members of his old band, Blue Stuff, and several others US and Italian blues artists. Four of the cuts are instrumentals and are probably the ones that intrigue me the most. The vocal leads on the other tracks vary and that is the downfall for me of this album. Bobby Ray Green (The Network Band) and Lonnie Wilson (the Kompoz Community) deliver authentic, unadulterated vocals, but when they switch over to Mario Insenga, Guido Migliaro, Vernonica Sbergia and Michelle Ciuchiolo the vowel sounds round out, become long and make the blues feel less authentic, at least to this listener (and I am an Italian-American myself). The other minor criticism would be the lyrics occasionally strike me as stereotypcally American and occasionally grammatically a bit off. But it is kind of fun to see and hear the blues and America through another set of eyes and ears. Overall, this is a fun CD. Muoio's play is inspired and he wails on his mandolin. He gives credit to Rich DelGrosso, Gerry Hundt ad Jim Richter for their inspiration and whatever they provided to Lino paid off. He's got the mandolin blues thing down pat. The instrumentals are somewhat bare boned as are all the cuts, and allow us to hear the mandolin clearly. I find Lino to be quite accomplished in his play- well done- bravissimo! And while I fault some of the singers for their accented vocals, realistically they sing well and are able to sell the blues, country and bluegrass style. Fullvio Sorrentino's dobro and guitar work throughout is really good as is Renato Feederico on keys. Splashes of brass and clarinet add a good feeling to the music, too. The bass/double bass work by Francesco "Sleepy" Miele is also quite well done. It's nice to see another mandolin bluesman on the scene. Besides the credited men above and Billy Flynn, we rarely get to hear a lot of mandolin blues. Muoio dies a strikingly good job of it and mandolin fans will all enjoy this CD that he's delivered. Reviewer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and work with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL LINO MUOIO Ecrit par Fred Delforge mercredi, 24 avril 2013 Ce n’est qu’à l’adolescence que Lino Muoio s’est essayé en autodidacte à la guitare, attiré dans sa démarche par des idoles comme Angus Young, Jeff Beck ou Jimmy Page dont il s’attachera à reprendre les plans l’un après l’autre, finissant par se forger son propre style en participant durant cinq années à un premier groupe professionnel. La rencontre avec The Blue Stuff, un des plus fameux groupes italiens de blues, sera bientôt déterminante et c’est en enregistrant quatre albums et en donnant un millier de concerts en sa compagnie que l’artiste finira d’asseoir sa réputation, sortant finalement un premier effort solo en 2009 dans lequel il mettra ses propres morceaux puis remettant finalement le métier sur l’ouvrage en 2011 avec cette fois un album dédié à la mandoline, un instrument que Lino Muoio utilise régulièrement, tout comme le banjo, le ukulélé ou la lap steel guitar … En véritable virtuose, ce ne sont pas moins de quatorze titres que le musicien nous présente, des morceaux qui sont plupart chantés par des invités comme Bob Ray Green, Mario Insenga, Lonnie Wilson, Guido Migliaro, Veronica Sbergia ou encore Michelle Chiuchiolo et dans lesquels il est question du quotidien de l’individu lambda, comme il est d’usage dans le blues depuis que le genre existe. Trait d’union entre Naples et les Etats Unis, « Mandolin Blues » nous transporte de manière assez impressionnante vers un blues aux couleurs rurales redondantes bien entendu, mais s’offre aussi des escapades vers des cachets plus urbains qui ne feraient absolument pas désordre sur un album de Chicago blues, de ragtime ou même de jazz. Quatre instrumentaux disséminés de part et d’autre pour mieux assurer la diversité de l’ouvrage et voilà l’amateur qui sait se montrer ouvert d’esprit qui passe d’une « Girl From Arkansas » à un « Memphis Blues », de « Swing Thing » à « That Old Time Blues » ou encore de « Louise » à une « Sweet Little Woman » dont on a forcément du mal à se détacher tant ses parfums sont enivrants. Reste à souhaiter que l’arrivée de Lino Muoio chez Starassoprod nous offre l’opportunité de le croiser au plus vite sur une scène où la passion risque de devenir encore plus forte ! LA HORA DEL BLUES Lino Muoio “Mandolin Blues”. Cheyenne 2011. Si os gustan aquellos viejos blues acústicos de preguerra de estilo hokum o aquellos blues que interpretaban las jug bands, entonces tened por seguro que este álbum de Lino Muoio, no solo no os defraudará, sino que además váis a disfrutar como un niño con zapatos nuevos. Lino Muoio es un mandolinista, fino, fino, muy fino, además de un excelente compositor de canciones. Durante los últimos veinte años ha sido un miembro activo del movimiento bluesero en Italia y junto a su banda, The Blues Stuff, ha protagonizado varias apariciones en la televisión nacional italiana, así como grabaciones en estudio para diferentes grupos y músicos de muy variada índole. Este disco contiene catorce canciones compuestas íntegramente por Lino, todas ellas en inglés. Aparte de sus habituales Blues Stuff, Lino ha contado también con la colaboración de algunos conocidos músicos como Mike Supnick, Sebastiano Forti, Bobby Ray Green, Lonnie Wilson y Verónica Sbergia. En definitiva, un disco muy bienvenido que llena un hueco en el campo del blues, ya que actualmente la mandolina como instrumento principal está muy, pero que muy en desuso. Atrás quedaron nombres como Coley Jones, Charlie McCoy, Charlie Burse, Vol Stevens, Howard Armstrong, Carl Martin, Yank Rachell o Johnny Young. En la actualidad cabe destacar a Rich DelGrosso, Andra Faye McIntosh y por supuesto a Lino Muoio como exponentes del blues con mandolina. Si os interesa dicho instrumento en el blues, os aconsejo leer el artículo de DelGrosso: “Mandolin Blues”, publicado en la revista Living Blues nº 79. MUY BUENO. If you like those old prewar acoustic blues of hokum style or those blues performed by jug bands, then be sure this album by Lino Muolo not only will not disappoint you but also will give you joy and happiness like a child with a new toy.