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Albert Castiglia (pronounced “ka-STEEL-ya”) was born on August 12, 1969 in New York. At the age of 5, his family moved to Miami. With a Cuban mother and an Italian father, he is an example of the melting pot of culture that is Miami. He learned to play guitar at the age of 12 and soon realized that the passions in his heart were expressed best by his music.
Castiglia has a blues history. In 1990, he joined The Miami Blues Authority and later on won "Best Blues Guitarist" from New Times magazine in 1997. The legendary Junior Wells discovered Castiglia and immediately hired him as his own guitarist/vocalist on several world tours. After Wells' passing, Castiglia toured with Atlanta blues singer Sandra Hall, then ventured out on a solo career and released his debut album in 2002, Burn, working with his longtime friend, Graham Wood Drout of Iko-Iko. In 2006, he released his second album (and first for Blues Leaf Records), A Stone's Throw, which included two more insightful Drout songs, “Big Toe” and “Ghosts Of Mississippi.” Castiglia and Drout also released a live collaboration titled The Bittersweet Sessions in 2005, which focused on a more acoustic-oriented, intimate feel
Now Castiglia comes back full-bore with a blistering new album on Blues Leaf Records, These are the Days, which perfectly showcases both his incendiary electric and slide guitar work and soulful vocals, which recall Van Morrison. These are the Days contains five Castiglia originals, including a tribute to his mentor Junior Wells, “Godfather of the Blues”. The material is varied, with songs from Bob Dylan (“Catfish’), Nappy Brown (“Night Time is the Right Time”) and Fenton Robinson (“Somebody Loan me a Dime”). Once again, Graham Wood Drout contributes another outstanding song, “Celebration,” to add to the string of compositions he’s written on each of Castiglia’s albums. Until now, “Somebody Loan Me a Dime” and Little Willie John’s “Need Your Love So Bad” were attention grabbers in Castiglia’s live shows; but through the insistence of Blues Leaf president Joe Morabia, Albert captures that magic on this album. In addition to the solid blues songs throughout These are the Days, Castiglia generates some dance floor energy with “Bad Year Blues” and “Twister,” two jumping tunes sure to become live show favorites. This is the album that says “These Are Albert Castiglia’s Days.”
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