Read our story in english!
David Mac (DM): Do you remember some of your first musical encounters?
Marco Meucci (MM): Yes. As a child I used to sing all the songs that I heard on television. In those days in Italy in the 1970’s there were a lot of television programs in which music played an important role. I remember all those old variety shows where American musical artists such as Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Joe Pass, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and many others would perform. Some of these programs would also have some of the great Italian performers such as Mina and Lelio Luttazzi who were two of the greatest Italian jazz musicians.
My parents realized that for me, music was something that would be special and so they decided to buy me a small keyboard with which I spent the whole day trying to learn to play a few tunes. A few years later, at the age of 12, I began to seriously study classical music at school and it was then that I received as a gift a real piano that still have at home.
DM: Do you remember some of the first rhythm and blues records you heard?
MM: Yes! One day my father came home and gave me my first two recordings. One was the Nate King Cole Trio. The other was an album of Ray Charles. I don’t remember the name of the album but it was from the 1950’s Atlantic part of his career.
I still wonder how it occurred to my father to buy those records because he is not a fan of jazz music and he is even less familiar with blues music. But the choice could not be more right because I fell in love with those two beautiful voices and the sublime music on those recordings.
When I was 14 years old, I saw B.B. King on television. I was literally stunned by the powerful voice of this big man and the counterbalance of the gentle sound of his guitar. Later I discovered Louis Jordan and jump blues. He was a genius. His music was the link between swing and rock ‘n’ roll. These four men were my biggest heroes and I decided that this was the music I wanted to play.
DM: Did you find others in Rome who played this music?
MM: When I was a teenager in Rome in the early 80’s, there were many clubs and venues where you could go and listen to live music. Two nightclubs in particular were my favorite places. They were called “Vicolo 49″ and “Blues River”. Both were small cubs where you could meet many musicians and play together until late into the night. I was surprised that many of these cats liked to play the blues. These musicians are still my best friends to this day.
DM: How has the scene changed since the 80’s?
MM: I think the blues scene today in Rome as well as in Italy in general has grown considerably since I was a teenager. There are some very good blues bands and fine blues players of my generation out there working today.
DM: Who are some of these musicians?
MM: Enrico Crivellaro, Maurizio Pugno, Egidio Ingala, Emiliano Tremarelli, Max Manganelli, Marco Pandolfi, Umberto Porcaro, Gio Rossi and Alberto Marsico and many others. I think many of the players from Italy and all over Europe absorb this music like sponges. They have learned the lessons of the great masters of the past and present, genuine and heartfelt blues, even though this kind of music is not part of our culture historically. I am also very happy to see that there is a very young audience of fans who enjoy this music. This gives me hope for the future of this music.
DM: I think if people of our generation Marco, whether you are in Rome, a suburb somewhere in America, Scandinavia or Sao Paulo, Brazil, are going to learn this music, it has to be from recordings not from an oral tradition passed down.
MM: Absolutely! Everything I learned on my piano is the result of listening to recordings that I bought and that I literally consumed trying to figure out the notes. Now everything is changed. You have the internet and YouTube. On the internet especially on YouTube you can find everything you want.
DM: Do you think music has in some ways been devalued with the glut of music on the web? Is this necessarily a good thing?
MM: I have to be sincere. I fondly remember the hours spent listening to even one LP, moving the needle back and forth over the record player. Even now I can sing you note for note solos of B.B/ King’s Sweet Sixteen or Sweet Little Angel and many others. I am not against technology, but LPs were something precious, from the cover, to all the information and photos you could find inside. Now the music travels on mp3 files and I think we’ve lost something. Do you think I sound like an old man?
DM: Yes (laughs) kidding…no, you are right of course Marco. Nothing can replace listening, that kind of study and practice. Let’s talk about early bands and musical experiences.
MM: The first band I joined was fronted by a guitar player. It was called Cold Shot. As you can deduce by the name of the band, he was a fan of Stevie Ray Vaughan. That didn’t last long. In 1994, I met some of the musicians with whom I still play today. They had a band called, The Hardboilers. They took me in as pianist and soon I also became the singer. We played mostly Chicago Blues and mixed in some original material. The band recorded a CD called, Sweet Lovin’ Mama. With that band I had the opportunity to play several big blues festivals here in Italy like Pistoia Blues. We opened for Robert Cray, Bo Diddley and my hero, B.B. King.
In those days we met the Chicago blues singer, Deitra Farr. We toured with her around Italy for two years. We even had a gig in Sicily with Deitra and Louisiana Red.
DM: When and how did the Red Wagons come to be?
MM: In 1998 The Hardboilers decided to separate. The guitar player, Alessandro Angelucci, who you know the drummer, Carlo Del Carlo, the harmonica player, Marco Corteggiani, and myself decided to start a new project. The idea was to create a versatile band that embraces a wider repertoire of styles. We were no longer just Chicago blues, but a mix of styles from swing to boogie woogie to jump blues.
DM: Is that when you added a horn section?
MM: Yes, initially we had Rox Marocchini play tenor and we had Carlo Ficini on trombone. We also had a double bass player Al Compassi., the king of slap. I think we were the first jump blues band in Italy. We are a kind of an Italian Roomful of Blues, if you will.
DM: The band, like all bands, has gone through different musical incarnations with different players.
MM: Yes, thanks for pointing that out. I would like to mention some of these guys for their precious contributions. There is Lucio Villani (bass), Riccardo Boni (baritone sax), Simone Crinelli (baritone sax), Paolo Grillo (bass) and Marco Corteggiani (harmonica). All of them are great musicians and it was very fun to play with these guys. The Red Wagons are Rox Marocchini on tenor sax and the ” the historian” of the band, Stefano Barillà on alto sax, Mauro Massei on baritone sax, Dino Gubinelli on double bass and Carlo del Carlo on drums as well as official “driver” of the band.
DM: How did you come up with the name, “The Red Wagons”?
MM: Well, for starters, we were looking for a name that didn’t already exist. Believe me it’s very difficult. We didn’t want to use the word “blues” in the title but rather something that would represent the blues and the first thing that came to mind was the train. “..when a man gets the blues he jumps a freight train and rides.” Then we remembered an old song from the ’40s called Your Red Wagon. From the ‘train’ to the choice of ‘wagon’ was a snap. We decided for The Red Wagons. Sounds good, no?
DM: It sounds great. Let’s talk about your first CD.
MM: In 2004, we recorded our first CD called Ullàlla Boogie. We thought about it for over four years and found lightning in a bottle in two days. The CD has a bunch of songs we had been doing live, including some originals tunes sung in Italian. The lyrics are humorous and funny. There is a song called Flatulence Blues that might remind you of the song Constipation Blues by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. We also do a tribute to the great Louis Jordan with an Italian version of Saturday Night Fish Fry. This album has allowed us to make ourselves known, not only in Italy, but also abroad. We were invited to perform in several international festivals. I am very fond of this recording. As they say, your first love is never forgotten.
DM: The band had other goals and aspirations though.
MM: Our secret dream was to one day be able to meet and play with the musicians who have been our favorites for many years.
DM: Such as…
MM: Junior Watson, Sugar Ray Norcia, Duke Robillard, Ronnie Earl, Lynwood Slim, James Harman, Alex Schultz, Jimmie Vaughan, Darrell Nulisch, Rick Holmstrom and Kim Wilson.
DM: As a pianist Marco, do you have a favorite player on the contemporary scene?
MM: Fred Kaplan is my favorite. He has played with Hollywood Fats of course but also William Clarke. Both these guys are no longer with us sadly enough but they are two of our favorites as well.
DM: In the past few years your “secret dreams” as you called them have been realized as the Red Wagons have cut some great tracks over the past few years that are both available on CD. Let’s talk about those recordings and how these came together.
MM: In 2006, we decided to record a new album. The idea was to put together a series of recordings made with some of the artists with who we toured over the years. It took a long time to make the record called, Jumpin’ with Friends. The first recording dates back to 2006 when we did some gigs with Mitch Woods. I have known Mitch since 2002 and for several years we have been his band at festivals in Italy. He loves to call The Red Wagons his “Italian Rocket 88s”. So the day before his departure for the United States, we locked ourselves in the studio and recorded songs, Blue Light Boogie by Louis Jordan and Floyd Dixon’s Hey Bartender.
The next year we did the same with Junior Watson. After playing together at various festivals, we decided to record our studio tracks together. Sax Gordon Beadle was in Rome at that time as well. We had played together a few years before, so we invited him to record with us and Junior. The songs are Big Mamou by Smiley Lewis, Congo Mombo by Guitar Gable, Chicago Cha Cha by Lefty Bates and Let’s Get High by Rosco Gordon. I remember that session; it was a lot of fun. Junior is unique, completely outside the lines, a constant surprise and an inexhaustible source of jokes.
DM: Don’t worry Marco. If he ever runs out of jokes, he will just tell you the same ones he already told you years ago. While on the topic of Watson, you did a live album with him during this period.
MM: Yes, we recorded a live album at the Torre Alfina Blues Festival that had been bootlegged for some time called, Junior Watson & The Red Wagons: Live at The Torre Afina Blues Festival 07’. It had its official release last fall on Blue Beat Records and is now called, Junior Watson Live from Outer Space. It is available through Blue Beat Music.
DM: Getting back to, Jumpin’ with Friends, you have some other very special guests sitting in with you guys on this CD.
MM: In the next few years, we repeated the same pattern of backing up other musicians and then we would bring them in the studio and cut a few tracks.
DM: Is there anybody we should know about?
MM: Sugar Ray Norcia, Lynwood Slim and Igor Prado.
DM: Wow! I am sorry you couldn’t find any good musicians to play with on these sessions.
MM: (laughing) What can I say? I grew up listening to their music. For me to have the opportunity to meet and play with these artists was like touching the sky with a finger. Every gig was like a musical lesson. I’m sure many of them were surprised by the fact that we know their repertoire and are able to play their material. This is the result of years and years of listening to them.
All of these guys share our enthusiasm with this project. We built wonderful relationships. I just can’t say enough about how I feel about these guys. Junior is a genius of guitar, absolutely unpredictable. Many times during the show at the last moment he changed the set list. Sugar Ray is my favorite singer and a real gentleman. I met Ray while touring with him and Mark Dufresne a few years earlier. He can sing anything. He could sing the phone book and make it sound good He plays harmonica like it is an extension of his voice. Gordon is a machine. I don’t know where he gets all that breath. He blows on sax with a power that is out of the ordinary. He also has an amazing sense of rhythm. Lynwood was a surprise for me. I knew him from his music and for the great artistry, but I didn’t know him as a person. After just a few hours we became very good friends.
I met Igor Prado some years ago when he was not so known to the international audience and I literally was impressed the first time I heard him play. Actually he is no longer a promise of the blues, but a beautiful reality. He is one of the greatest talents in this music.
What can I say about Mitch? I have known him for many years. He’s a great piano player and one of my mentors. We like the same kind of blues. Since the very first show together it seemed like we had played together for years.
DM: I know there were some unexpected twists and turns along the way. If you’re comfortable talking about it, you are welcome to share with our readers some of that history of this record.
MM: In 2009, we finished the record. In 2010 we made the mix. With the help of our friend Maurizio Pugno we found a producer, Jerry Hall, of Pacific Blues Records. Jerry was, as I am sure you know Dave, a talent-scout, producer and sound engineer based in California. He was a great mind and had his own methodology as it relates to the recording process. He produced many beautiful recordings through the years. We, of course, were thrilled when Jerry agreed to work with us and put the record out on his label. He was so enthusiastic and made a very wise selection of songs.
Finally we had it done! We were ready with the disc in hand. The graphics were made, illustrations done, everything was ready to go. The release of the album was scheduled for September, 2010, on Jerry’s Pacific Blues label. That summer, as we were leaving for a tour in Norway, we received an email from a collaborator of Jerry’s. Jerry, who had recently moved to New York, been beaten by his drunk roommate. He ended up in a coma. He has not been able to work since. I still can’t believe it, and I pray that he may recover.
After the initial shock of this news, we decided to self produce the CD and release it on our own.
I think you can hear our excitement in being able to play with these great artists. I think it came out great. Most likely it is the first independently produced album from Italy that brought this many important names together on one record.
DM: If people would like to purchase the CD, where can they find it?
MM: You can find Jumpin with Friends on CD Baby. Our first CD Ullàlla Boogie is available on Amazon or CD Universe.
DM: What are your immediate plans for The Red Wagons?
MM: Our immediate plans are to promote the new CD. We are planning the summer festival season and it is likely that we will be playing with one or more of the guests you hear on Jumpin’ with Friends. For the future we are already thinking about the third album, this time with all original tunes.
DM: If someone would like to book your band, how would you like them to contact you?
MM: They are welcome to send me an email at redwagons@hotmail.com or they can leave a message on Facebook.
DM: What else would you like people to know about you and your band?
MM: I would like people to know how lucky I feel to have met the people I play with because the passion for the blues unites us and serves as a basis for deep friendships that make this band one of the longest-running blues bands in Italy.
DM: What is about this American music you find so moving?
MM: It feels so natural. It’s like when you fall in love with a girl. You are not always sure why it happened or how it happened but you are glad it happened. Well, I do not know why, but I love this music and this love will never end.
Si ringrazia David Mac della Blues Junction Productions, l’intervista è disponibile anche sul loro sito cliccando qui.