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Albert Castiglia (pronounced ka-STEEL-ya) gets a lot of satisfaction watching people forget their troubles, press close to the stage and dance as they respond to his music,. “I make people happier playing the blues than I did handing out welfare checks,” he laughs, recalling his days as a social worker.
Pausing to reflect, he’s still puzzled about how things have turned out. “I don’t know why a white kid from a middle-class family would feel a connection to the blues, but I did,” says Castiglia who was born in New York City on August 12, 1969, the son of an Italian-American banker and a Cuban philanthropist mother. “I was a loner, so maybe that’s why I liked the blues so much, because the message is about rising up from your loneliness.”
Castiglia moved to Coral Gables, Florida with his family when he was 5 and started taking guitar lessons at 12. The thread that would link him to the blues was thin but unbreakable – Eric Clapton’s song Just One Night.
After completing four years of college, Castiglia toiled as a case worker for the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services while playing at nights and on weekends. He debuted professionally in 1990 with the regionally popular Miami Blues Authority and was named Best Blues Guitarist in Miami in 1997 by New Times magazine.
Castiglia’s fate as a full-time blues man was set in cement on New Years Eve1996, when he was invited to sit in with Junior Wells who subsequently offered him a job as his lead guitarist. Castiglia moved to Chicago and toured the world with the blues harmonica legend until cancer claimed him in 1998, then backed R&B vocalist Sandra Hall before relocating to Miami to embark on a solo career in 2001.
A player who segues effortlessly from deep ruminations to lightning riffs, Castiglia has a genuine sense of dynamics and phrasing. He separates the engaging from the annoying by eschewing gimmicks and theatrics and championing tasteful restraint. Reviewers place his vocals in the gritty territory between Van Morrison and John Hiatt, a delectable bonus to anyone’s ear.
Castiglia’s talents as a song writer are amply proven by the 2008 Blues Music Award nomination that his original composition, Bad Days Blues received for Song of the Year. And, when it comes to covers, he is particularly adept at finding a new home in the repertoire for orphaned gems.
Even Castiglia’s approach to his four recordings oozes something special, the capture in sound of a moment in time. “All my CDs are like my kids, you know. They all have their own redeeming qualities in terms of material and stuff,” he explains. “Each recording has its own identity and strengths.”
With quality as his default option Castiglia knows that to reach out and touch more people with his music he only needs to follow the example of his mentor. “Junior (Wells) had this way of making his audience feel like they knew him,” says Castiglia. “His example helped me come out of my shell and become friends with my fans.” www.albertcastiglia.com
Ken Wright
