Gino Matteo
I've Been Thinkin'
A Bright Future
How old is this kid? Twenty-five! Man, oh man, what a debut recording from Gino Matteo, who hails from Southern California. If I’ve Been Thinkin’ is any indication of what Matteo might be able to build upon on his future recordings - look out!
The first thing that grabs you about this recording is that you’re immediately taken back by the superior production value and dynamite audio quality, which is by no means taking anything away from Matteo’s performance, powerful guitar playing, and songwriting. Matteo stands tall behind the brilliant horn charts and string arrangements. Did I say strings on a Blues CD? Think back to B.B. King on “The Thrill Is Gone,” as most of this disk really works gorgeously and the arrangements only add to (and do not hinder) what Matteo is all about. A lot of Blues labels should take note as this recording is one of the best sounding Blues records I have heard in a very long time.
Since winning last year's competition at the Guitar Center in Hollywood, Matteo has been touring at several of this country's festivals and performs regularly in Southern California. In fact, Hubert Sumlin mentioned Matteo’s name to me, as Hubert was a judge at one of the guitar competitions where Matteo performed. Sumlin told me, “This boy can play!”
Drummer Chuck Gullens, bassist Eric Ward, and pianist/organist Dennis Wayne Holseybrook back Matteo and lay the perfect backdrop for Matteo to set himself apart on I've Been Thinkin’. There are twelve songs on the CD (plus a really cool thirteenth, a hidden track covering Chris Cain,’s “Drinking Straight Tequila”), most of which offer a delightful mix of original material and well-known Blues/Rock standards by Tom Waits and Robbie Robertson.
The vibe here often includes that urban big city sound, from time to time you will hear street traffic, dogs barking, and party sounds, all of which definitely gives I’ve Been Thinkin’ an unique vibe.
I've Been Thinkin' is a very impressive debut. It’s musically diverse, offers top-shelf material, is delightfully funky, delivers dramatic guitar playing, plus it is very well produced and beautifully mixed and recorded.
Bob Putignano is a contributing editor at BluesWax.
You may contact Bob at blueswax@visnat.com.
