DOCTOR JOE CASTELLANO BLUES BAND originated by an idea of his leader and founder, Angelo Castellano: in February 1994 he won a small amount of money playing the old game of Enalotto (state lottery) and decided to invest part of it in the creation of a great Blues Band.

Until  that moment Joe Castellano had directed his efforts towards Jazz and Blues, in different bands and contests; from that moment he was concentrated exclusively on this Big Bnd looking for

a single sonority which could include Blues, Soul, Jazz & Gospel. With this aim Castellano realized his compositions; through those genres and starting from Jazz, he was brought again,instinctively, to Blues.

Blues’ strength and folly led Joe Castellano to the starting point of this adventure, gathering 8 members chosen among the most passionate musicians or among those with whom he had already worked.

The Band was shaped in June 1994, and made its debut during another just born Doctor Joe’s invention, the Agrigento Blues Festival. One of the guests was  the singer Arthur Miles, well known in Italy for his Soul-Blues performances.

Another nice person participated that Festival : the pianist and singer of Stax  Memphis Michael Allen. The just born friendship between Michael and the Doctor would lead to an intense and  fruitful co-operation,with a great development for the Band and a lot of performances in festivals and events.

 In 1996 Joe Castellano decided to assemble his original compositions on his first recording work , ‘My Blues Can’t Be Still’.  In the same year, during a tour in Italy, he was present at a wonderful concert performed by  a certain Reverend Lee Brown, from Kansas. The idea of asking Lee Brown to sing in the record was immediate and he suggested  him to collaborate. The Reverend  accepted, and brought with him Massimo Faraò from Genua and a real legend of Jazz drums… directly from the trio with of Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald, and from  Ray Charles’, James Brown’s, Duke Ellington’s Bands’… His Majesty Bobby Durham!

As Michael Allen couldn’t get a permission from his record company, Castellano had to look for a female voice to finish his work. After a year of vicissitudes in Doctor Joe’s life, the recording was completed at the end of 1997, thanks to the fabulous voice of the Newyorker Joy Garrison.

The album was self-produced and couldn’t be distributed as it deserved; but whoever listened to it, in Italy and abroad, couldn’t avoid expressing high praises (like Doctor Joe’s friend Paolo Conte).

For the presentation of the album Michael Allen was on the stage; after a year of fantastic concerts Joe Castellano left the stage for three long years and the  promotion wasn’t completed.

The turning point was in Spring 2002. Maybe like Jack & Elwood, the agrigentinian pianist saw the ‘Light of Blues’ .He could gather and strengthen the missing Band again  reaching the number of 11 members, and thanks to the meeting with the great  Gordon Metz  and the great friend, the guitarist Gai Bennici, he realized an unforgettable 2002 Summer tour, promising to work for the Blues Band till the last second of his life!

In the last so great 2003 TOUR with Mr. GORDON METZ, Joe Castellano stay on the stage with names like : ROY ROBERTS, TONY COLEMAN, STANLEY JORDAN, BILLLY COBHAM, CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE, MARCUS MALONE, MEMO GONZALEZ etc.etc.   

Now, we hope we can write other pages of this story with all of you!