MUSICIANS: SUGAR RAY NORCIA - Vocal & Harmonica MARK DuFRSNE - Vocal & Harmonica MAURIZIO PUGNO - Guitar, Arranger, Band leader ALBERTO MARSICO - Piano & Organ LUCIO VILLANI - Upright Bass GIO ROSSI - Drums the Cape Horns: MIRKO PUGNO - Trumpet GIORDANO PALAZZARI - Trombone GIORDANO BICCHERI - Tenor Sax TIZIANO FIORITI - Baritone Sax MAURIZIO PUGNO…an interview before the show…. We’re here in Gubbio, my home town, to record this DVD. It’s always a joy to return home after a long tour through Europe. It’s been quite emotional for me to release this album here in this opera house, a rather unusual venue for a Blues album. In fact even the American vocalists were thrilled about the choice of this location……..we’re used to smoke-filled venues or modern theatres. My decision to record here was not entirely by chance. I believe that the music we’re playing is in some way tied to traditions, albeit new traditions because they are only about 100 years ago. However, it’s still all popular music; music from the roots, a sort of literature that comes from the roots, as I like to call it, because it regards the people’s moods more than it does the actual music style. In some way it is also tied to the traditions of this town which have been carefully safeguarded. We have traditions here that are rooted in the centuries, such as the Feast of the Ceri, the Crossbow Competition, and many others that have been handed down, not so much on paper as orally, in much the same way that people live their lives day after day. The Blues in some way fits into all this because it follows the same steps creating culture. To actually carry out this Italian/American venture in my hometown has been a dream come true, and I hope that one day you will all have the opportunity to visit the medieval wonders of this town that in some way is open towards the future. It all began quite a few years ago from an encounter with one of the greatest musicians, organists and pianists in circulation today, Alberto Marsico. We met in Pisa in the 1990s when we accompanied American musician, Mike Turk. I had actually heard about Alberto many years earlier listening to him play on “The King Bees” albums, a band that I believe was looking towards the future even back then……….a piano, harmonica and drum trio that was already mixing swing to traditional Blues. After that first meeting, several others followed and we eventually formed our own trio together with Gio Rossi, another extraordinary musician as you can see in this DVD. We formed the Organ Trio and began accompanying some of the best American Blues vocalists, including Mark DuFresne and Sugar Ray Norcia. With Sugar Ray, it all began in 2004. He was vocalist with the Roomful of Blues, and my favorite singer as well, and I’m not saying that just to please him! It’s been a thrill working with him. At a later date, my path crossed by chance with Mark DuFresne through a journalist friend of mine. At the time Mark was vocalist with the legendary band, Roomful of Blues, following the period with Sugar Ray. Mark worked on a few things with the Organ Trio, and one evening in a hotel over dinner with Alberto, we talked about uniting these two great singers, so different stylistically, in a single project, at first in a recording and then live. And here we are making our dream, or at least mine, come true. Another incredible musician, Lucio Villani, a true-bred Roman, joined us in this undertaking. He had been working for years with musicians such as Mitch Woods and Junior Watson. Prior to all this was the release of my first solo album after having played for years with the Rico Blues Combo, a band to whom I owe much of my musical experience. My solo album, “That’s What I Found Out”, recorded with Sugar Ray Norcia, was produced by Jerry Hall, memorable talent scout for the Blues scene, for the Pacific Blues label. When we spoke to him about our intention of making this album with two vocalists and a quote unquote “inter-racial” band, he eagerly gave his go-ahead……….and I immediately began composing! Composing, I must say in a rather original way! I played all the instruments in a simple and amateurish way on my computer! I then sent the songs by email to the two singers in the States and they then wrote the lyrics to them. We then met here in Gubbio at the Opera House where we recorded all the instruments. We basically recorded everything live, later adding the vocals and harps.