adEIdJ – Associazione delle Etichette Indipendenti di Jazz

Press Release

This is SirJoe (Sergio) Polito's second album as a leader, four years after "My Friend Ry" (Gutenberg 3020). Here SirJoe has taken a further step forward, because of the twelve songs present in the new work, nine are of his own composition. The Venetian singer and guitarist, present in the Italian blues scene since the second half of the 80s, has chosen three wonderful covers: 4 + 20 by Stephen Stills, Bronx Lullaby (Smuggler's Waltz) by Tom Waits, but above all a beautiful, slower and more reflective version of Almost Cut My Hair, by the great David Crosby, who passed away just two years and half before. The remaining songs on "Black & White" are highly autobiographical and full of chiaroscuro, from the engaging  jazz blues of Last Night to the radiant Sunny Day in Santa Monica or the introspective Life. A splendid and close-knit band accompanies Polito in this new adventure. Here we like to remember at least Alberto Boscolo Agostini's imaginative guitars, the solid bass-and-drums team of Gianni Spezzamonte on electric bass and Marco Campigotto on drums, as well as two extraordinary guests like the saxophonist Danilo Scaggiante and the other guitarist Carlo De Bei. The leader's nine original songs are imbued with country blues and West Coast, but at the same time decidedly personal.

 

 

 

Track List

01) Happy New Year
02) Pacific Coast Highway
03) 4 + 20 (Stephen Stills)
04) Lay You Down
05) Run Against the Wind
06) Almost Cut My Hair (David Crosby)
07) New Morning on the Back of a Horse
08) Bronx Lullaby / Smuggler's Waltz (Tom Waits)
09) Sunny Day in Santa Monica
10) Last Night
11) Friends Come and Go
12) Life

Al songs, except where indicated, composed by Sergio Polito (lyrics and music)

Personnel

SirJoe Polito (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar)
Alberto Boscolo Agostini (electric, steel and slide guitar, mandolin)
Gianni Spezzamonte (electric bass)
Marco Campigotto (drums)

special guests:
Danilo Scaggiante (tenor sax)
Carlo De Bei (electric guitar)
Veronica Sbergia (vocals)
Max De Bernardi (acoustic guitar) 

Recording Data

Recorded, mixed, edited and mastered in 2025 by Pierluigi "Gigi" Campalto at Pigio's Highfield Studios, Venezia, Italy