Everyone has that one cousin—the one who lives a little bit on the wild side, the one who encourages the part of you that doesn’t like to do what is expected, but is so much fun you just can’t resist. They are the raucous one who means well, but when they come around, they also mean trouble.

Blues has the reputation of being that cousin to Jazz. They stem from the same family, but today, Jazz is looked upon as “high-class” stuff. To be a jazzman often means a clean look, an air of elegance, and a total mastery of one’s instrument. Then you have Blues—with origins in field hollers, a progression through backwoods juke joints, and a rowdy reputation driven by feeling, brashness, and grit.

This is exactly where Albert Castiglia fits in.

The son of an Italian-American father and a Cuban-born mother, Castiglia was born in New York City in 1969. Raised in Miami from the age of five, he grew up in a working-class home instilled with old-school values: the necessity of attending college, finding a decent job, and sticking with it until retirement.

Castiglia, fascinated by the guitar after watching an uncle play, received his first instrument at age 12. He was still in his early teens when he discovered the blues through an Eric Clapton live album. His interest peaked three years later after listening to Muddy Waters’ award-winning album, Hard Again. “I’d never heard anything like it,” Castiglia said. “It was raw, lowdown, dirty, primitive, primal!”

Following his parents’ wishes, Albert graduated from college to start a career as a social worker, primarily screening applicants for food stamps—a task that still haunts him.

Four years later, on New Year’s Eve, he was at The Back Room in Delray Beach to catch the legendary harmonica player Junior Wells. A chance conversation with Wells’ road manager led to an invitation to sit in, albeit with a warning that he’d better be good.

“I got up with the band to kick off the second set,” Albert remembers. “They played three songs without Junior, and I jammed with them. Then Junior came up, and I did three more.”

A month later, he was asked to fill in for a week of Junior’s gigs, and then eventually offered the full-time position. At age 27, Albert accepted on the spot. Wells’ stage mastery and sage advice are lessons still bearing fruit today.

Albert followed that stint by backing Sandra Hall, the reigning “Empress of the Blues” in Atlanta, appearing on her 2001 CD, Miss Red Riding Hood. He eventually formed his own band and released his debut album, Burn, in 2004.

Albert has continued to pay tribute to Wells, even penning the song “Godfather of the Blues” in his honor for the album These Are the Days. Both Keepin’ On and Living the Dream captured Album of the Year honors. Four more blues-rock pleasers followed: Solid Ground, Blues Caravan 2014, Big Dog, and Up All Night.

Family concepts reared their head one emotional day in 2018, when he received a call from a woman named Rayne who informed him that he was the father she’d been searching for. It was a life-changing moment. Not only did Castiglia, then in his late 40s, learn he was a father, but he was also on the verge of becoming a proud “Pop Pop” to a granddaughter and grandson!

These emotions surfaced in his album Masterpiece, which was honored as the 2020 BMA Blues-Rock Album of the Year. A major departure from Castiglia’s previous work, the album was recorded in a duo setting with label owner and fellow guitarist Mike Zito.

Since then, more albums have followed, adding to Castiglia’s oeuvre and cementing his legacy as one of the top bluesmen to watch.

So, come on out. You can’t leave your cousin hanging.

Don’t miss Albert Castiglia at Middle C Jazz on March 4th.

Article written by Middle C Jazz Marketing Support, Scott Homewood