Dave Moretti Blues Revue - Bluesjob (2011)

01. Jump Tha Blues (04:17)
02. Baby You're Rich (03:03)
03. One Way Ticket (03:40)
04. Hallelujah I Love Her So (03:25)
05. Love On The Phone (05:51)
06. Beauty Queen (02:40)
07. Who's That Girl (03:40)
08. Rockhouse (04:39)
09. No Man's Land (01:57)
10. Up The Line (05:05)

Musicians:
Dave Moretti - vocals & harmonica
Damir Nefat -guitar
Emanuele Pavone - bass
Alessio Sanfilippo - drums

Some days, when it’s gray and rainy outside, nothing is better than pouring two fingers of your favorite “tea” and settling down to some slow, sad blues. On those days, you had better not slip Bluesjob into the CD player, because it’ll have you out of your chair and snapping your fingers before you know what hit you.

The Dave Moretti Blues Review comes to us from across the pond, from a county more well known for olive oil and aqueducts than swinging blues and fierce harmonica playing. Hailing from Turin, Italy, the Blues Review is a four piece high-energy band that features Moretti on vocals and harp.

At first listen, I wasn’t sure what to make of this CD. The sound is a mix of jump blues, swing and just flat out old-school power blues played energetically. But there’s something in there that isn’t quite familiar... a musical approach that feels a little alien. When Moretti starts singing, I’m hit once again with the other worldly nature of this CD - reminding me of the first few minutes of listening to a Shakespeare play, when I know the language in English, but I haven’t quite got the ear for it yet.

A few songs in and this changed for me. My ears became used to Moretti’s deep, throaty and ever-so-off-kilter vocals, and the tone and texture of the music started to reveal itself to me. At the end of the CD, the first thing I did was hit play one more time to get deeper into the music.

The tracks are high energy blues infused with a jump and swing spirit, but sans the horns you’d expect. The arrangements are stripped down and raw and showcase a band that has honed their playing on European club and festival circuit. Moretti plays harp with a sharp treble presence and also sings. Moretti also penned six of the disc’s songs (the others are from such greats as Percy Mayfield and Ray Charles).

What struck me about this effort was the fact that the lean, mean tracks all share a unifying swing mentality, but Moretti and the boys know how to pull back, how to strip a song even more bare for a solo or bridge and every single song has some unique hook that just pulls you in and compels you to listen deeper. More than once, Moretti on harp and Damir Nefat on guitar get in such harmonic sync that that transition from one’s solo to the other is almost imperceptible.

For me, the blues is a genre that continues to surprise. I love the historical lineage of the genre and have great respect for those performers who stay true to the myriad of forms we’ve come to know. That being said, I love being taken for a ride that I never expected. I wasn’t prepared for hornless jump blues, stripped down and played fast and hard and sung with a throaty Italian accent.

To be honest, it took me a few listens to break through, but what the Dave Moretti Blues Revue delivers in Bluesjob is a delightful treat that left me grinning and my toes tapping.. --- Paul Schuytema, thebluesblast.com

download: yandex mediafire

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