In every city, town and hamlet in the world there are a few people who are just a little different. From a little fishing village in southern Brazil to a factory town in the Ukraine there is someone, maybe even three or four like-minded individuals, who speaks an esoteric, universal language. From Stockholm to Los Angeles, from Chicago to Milan and Bologna there are people, not many mind you, who communicate in this unwritten dialect. It is the language of the blues. Just for sake of clarification, I’m not talking about “blues-rock” that ugly, coarse, rather juvenile, bastardized way of communicating, but…real blues.

In Northern Italy there are gentlemen who speak this language and have for many years.

They are known as Egidio “Juke” Ingala and the Jacknives. The four individuals who make up this band have naturally gravitated to one another. Their love for the blues and mutual commitment to presenting this music to the public the right way is so deeply ensconced in their collective consciousness that any deviation from the truth that lies in the heart of this music would be tantamount to blasphemy.

They are of course Egidio, as well as guitarist Marco Gisfredi, bassist Max Patardi and the great Enrico “Henry” Soverini on drums. This ensemble has been called the Italian Aces. I don’t think that is really much of a stretch as these guys are cut from that same bolt of cloth. Think about that as you listen to Switcharoo, the veteran band's debut album on Rhythm Bomb Records. How many guitar players really understand how to play behind a harmonica for instance like Louis Meyers or Marco? How many drummers understand the various blues shuffles that Fred  Below incorporated into the music of Junior Wells and Muddy Water for instance? Enrico does and he brings that to the bandstand and the recording studio every time.  

Then we have the album’s producer, Little Victor. He is a vagabond, globetrotting raconteur roaming the countryside in search of that “sound.” An accomplished and highly acclaimed traditional blues man in his own right, he is always putting his skills to work getting like-minded individuals into the recording studio.

He even found the great Carl “Sonny” Leyland, who is a British ex-pat living in the middle of nowhere in the California hinterland at an undisclosed location. Victor and Carl’s resumes and recording credits are as long as my arm. Suffice it to say their inclusion here is just perfect.

As the late, great Lynwood Slim used to say, “Blues music is the universal language.” Thanks to Egidio “Juke” Ingala & the Jacknives I get to hear it spoken articulately. This release is the latest example of their commitment to this elusive language. Highly recommended…

- David Mac