Fabrizio Poggi interview

01:36 - Fabrizio lives just south of the Italian city of Milan and is a singer and writer, as well as a harmonica player

01:47 - Main genres are blues, spirituals and folk

02:10 - Played some Italian folk music early on in career with the band Turututela

02:58 - Also plays a lot of gospel (aka spiritual) music

03:49 - First turned onto the blues when saw Paul Butterfield and Muddy Waters on The Last Waltz where he jumped on the seat in the movie theatre when Muddy appeared

06:02 - Bought a harmonica the day after hearing Paul Butterfield for the first time but it took some time for Fabrizio to learn, with no-one playing harmonica in the local area

06:43 - Almost gave up learning harmonica until someone told him how to play in second position

08:13 - Was obsessed to learn the harmonica from age of around 20

08:21 - Learnt blues harmonica from records

09:58 - Started playing in bands but learnt most when travelled to the US in the 1990s

10:43 - Came back with a suitcase full of CDs from the US

11:39 - There was a blues scene around Milan but not much harmonica, with British player John Mayall the best known harmonica player and the British blues bands visible in Italy

13:18 - The language barrier was also a factor, with not many people in Italy speaking English at that time

13:30 - Fabrizio jokes that he learnt English from Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf

13:42 - Blues scene in Italy is popular now, with lots of young players and Fabrizio hopes he has been an inspiration to some young players there

14:56 - Blues is widely available across Italy now, especially festivals in the summer

15:24 - Lot of music venues have closed in Italy

15:53 - Fabrizio’s first main band was Chicken Mambo, who wanted to play New Orleans music

17:23 - Visited New Orleans on first visit to the US and to the Jazz and Heritage festival with lots of big names appearing

18:07 - Second album with Chicken Mambo was Under The Southern Sky, another self-produced album

19:13 - Toured the US between 1998-2002, making a lot of friends along the way and improving as a musician

20:26 - In 2010 took the whole Chicken Mambo band to play in the US

20:33 - Made first album in the US in 1999: Nuther World, in an attempt to record with an authentic sound

21:24 - Self-funded a lot of Chicken Mambo’s albums and travel in the early years

22:07 - Nuther World was a tribute to the singer songwriters that Fabrizio enjoyed when young

22:43 - Learnt a lot during this time, especially from the generous support of people in the US

23:02 - The musicians were very supportive and happy to perform with Fabrizio

23:56 - Album Songs For Angelina is for his wife, who has been very supportive throughout his career

24:23 - Performed at the King Biscuit Time festival in Helena, Arkansas, several times, where he met James Cotton, among others

25:19 - Might have played through the very same mic as Sonny Boy Williamson II

25:43 - Blind Boys of Alabama and Charlie Musselwhite appear on Fabrizio’s 2013 album: Spirit of Mercy

26:11 - Some of the many great artists Fabrizio has shared the stage with

27:27 - How got Blind Boys of Alabama and Charlie Musselwhite to play on the Spirits of Mercy album

29:49 - Released Harpway 61 album in 2012, a tribute to the blues harmonica greats, and gifted to the Blues Foundation to help raise money for blues musicians

31:33 - Made first album with Guy Davis in 2013: Juba Dance, and how teamed-up with him

32:32 - Shared a passion for acoustic blues with Guy Davis

33:26 - Sonny & Brownie’s Last Train album from 2017 was nominated for a Grammy

34:59 - The Rolling Stones won the Grammy in the same category in the year they were nominated

35:16 - Went to the Grammy ceremony in Madison Square Gardens in New York

35:53 - Chastised by security after playing the harmonica on the red carpet at the Grammy ceremony

37:14 - Guy Davis appears on Fabrizio’s Basement Blues album from 2022, an archive compilation of live recordings made by Fabrizio over the preceding years

38:25 - His wife, Angelina, has played a pivotal role in Fabrizio’s career

39:16 - Latest album, from 2024, is Healing Blues, with Shar White (backing singer with Eric Clapton) guesting on the album

41:12 - Has appeared at Carnegie Hall with Guy Davis and the special acoustics there

42:31 - Has written four books, with a biography about Fabrizio written by Serena Simula released last year, entitled ‘Believe’, it’s about the belief that Fabrizio has in his dreams

43:34 - Has been awarded a Hohner Lifetime Achievement Award

45:20 - Honoured by the President of the Italian Republic with a Knight of Merit for artistic merit

46:49 - Ten minute question

48:27 - Is a Hohner endorsee with the Special 20 the diatonic of choice

49:06 - Doesn’t do any customisation but will sometimes have customisers make different tunings on his diatonics

49:33 - Plays acoustically through the PA, not using any amplifiers or dedicated harmonica mics

51:06 - Sonny Terry did play a little amplified harmonica, as discussed on the Sonny Terry retrospective podcast episode

51:33 - Only plays diatonic now, but played some tremolo, bass and chromatic harmonica in the Turututela folk band

52:12 - Was in contact with Brendan Power about his Irish harmonica playing on chromatic

52:33 - Doesn’t use any overblows

53:40 - Mainly uses lip pursing but mixed with tongue blocking when required for certain effects

54:12 - Uses SM58 to play and sing through

55:05 - Likes some reverb and delay on the mic, especially in the studio when has different channels for vocals and harmonica

55:49 - Some of studio work recorded has other effects when added by the producer in post-production

56:23 - Future plans include promoting the Healing Blues album and the Believe biography and a tour in Europe coming up