|
contents | blues | |||||||||||||
| "The Bittersweet Sessions" from Albert Castiglia and Graham Wood Drout Little Silver Records announced today that the new CD from Albert Castiglia and Graham Wood Drout, "The Bittersweet Sessions, " is now available and features live and acoustic performances from the duo recorded last year at Bittersweet Blues, a live music venue near Fort Lauderdale, FL. "This is something that Albert and I have wanted to do for a long time, " reports Drout. "It was one of those great nights and we felt very lucky that the show was captured." Little Silver Records has released the first single, "The Ghosts of Mississippi" (composed by Drout and also appearing as the title track to Joey Gilmore's CD by that name) to radio using a newer distribution method of direct download for program directors and music directors. A mix of originals, standards and familiar Blues songs, "The Bittersweet Sessions" offers a sense of old school flavors with new school recipies performed live and acoustically at Bittersweet Blues on April 12, 2005. Song standout titles include "The Ghosts of Mississippi" (G. Drout), 32/20 (Robert Johnson), Pretty Thing (Willie Dixon) and an outstanding version of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." For his young age, Castiglia has history -- Blues history. In 1990 he joined The Miami Blues Authority and won "Best Blues Guitarist" from New Times Magazine. He was discovered by the legendary Junior Wells who immediately hired Castiglia to be his own guitarist/vocalist on several world tours. After Wells' passing, Castiglia ventured out on a solo career and released "Burn" working with his longtime friend, Graham Wood Drout of Iko-Iko. A sophomore solo release is due out from Castiglia in early Spring 2006. His second live record and his fifth overall to bear his name, Graham Wood Drout is a Miami legend who has worked with a literal "who's who" of Rock, Blues and Country music. Highlighting his more than 25 year career, Graham Wood Drout's band, Iko-Iko, has presented performances that have appeared in the films "Cape Fear, " "Contact" and AAA/Blues/Alt Country radio favorites, "(I've Got) Gris-Gris, " "Bag Me, Tag Me, Take Me Away" and "Celebration" which continue to be hot sellers today. Drout has received the awards for "Best Blues Band" and "Songwriter of The Year" from New Times Magazine, a Jammy Award for "Best Blues Band, " and his music was described by Blues Revue Magazine as "Soul filling ideas that flow out of [Drout's] pen and into the heart of the listener...the result is breathtaking." Drout's ability to discover outstanding musical talent is impressive. The so-called "voodoo rock" band's line up has featured a wide range of premier performers (Ron Dziubla/Chayanne, Ricky Martin; Nick Kane/The Mavericks; Glen Caruba/Sheryl Crow, Don Henley, Bruce Springsteen; Mike Bauer/Pam Tillis, Point of Grace) since their debut as the house band at Miami's first cabaret, Tobacco Road, and has backed up a who's who of legendary performers in a variety of venues. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |