Marco Pandolfi & The Jacknives was born from a fundamental need: playing the blues without compromises, just the real Old School Blues.
The mutual goal is to recuperate the tradition of the first electric blues, with a naked quality and deep-rooted sound that goes "back to the origins", and to pay homage to the feeling and energy of the black masters.
They firmly avoid the usual standards and too familiar blues clichés, opting for an approach to the sound that is more dynamic than loud and a repertory based on the rediscovery of less familiar blues artists from the 40's, 50's and 60's, and original material.
The Jacknives immediately started playing intensively in clubs and festivals throughout Italy, Switzerland and France, and have had the opportunity to open for artists such as Roomful Of Blues, Carey & Lurrie Bell, Lynwood Slim, Junior Watson, Brian Auger, Janiva Magness, Candye Kane, Corey Harris, Jeff Turmes, Alex Schultz, Sean Costello, Tom Principato, Nine Below Zero, Frank Goldwasser, Kid Ramos, Bob Corritore, The Mannish Boys, etc.
They also have played with American musicians such as PAUL OSCHER, BOB MARGOLIN, DAVID LEE DURHAM, RICHARD RAY FARRELL, ALEX SCHULTZ, JANIVA MAGNESS.
In 2004 the Jacknives released their first compact disc with the title "Step Back Baby", a tribute to the sound and the artists that have inspired them the most. The CD got many positive reviews (IL BLUES-December 2004-Italy, BLUES & CO-December 2004-France, RootsHighway Ezine-January 2005-Italy, etc) and is yet on air in several blues radios in U.S.A. (KUCI, WWOZ, KPFT), France (Radio 666), Belgium (Boom Boom Radio), Croatia (Barikada) Denmark and Italy (Mojostation, Radio Sherwood). Step Back Baby has also been voted as one of the best blues records of the year in the French radio program SWEET HOME CHICAGO website. In April 2005 they toured the France (Paris, Lion, Limoges, etc), and got a good review of the Paris concert in the prestigious magazine Soul Bag. In the same period they have accompanied the saxophone-harmonica player Michael Peloquin (San Francisco-USA), and theyve been the back up band for the singer-guitarist Richard Ray Farrell (New York-USA) for two tours in Italy and Switzerland.
In 2005 the band won the 2006 INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE selections for Italy, sponsored by the association Roots & Blues from Parma. That means that they have been selected from 62 Italian bands as the best blues group, and that they had to represent their country in the prestigious challenge, which is organized by the Blues Foundation (the most important blues organization in the world). The IBC is a judged Battle of the Bands in which competitors take the stage and play a short set for a panel of judges, and has evolved into the worlds biggest and most respected showcase for blues musicians. That was the first time an Italian band took part in the Memphis challenge. Thanks to the Memphis experience, the band had the opportunity to play at the famous Ground Zero club in Clarksdale (Mississippi) and at many clubs on Beale Street in Memphis (Rum Boogie, etc.); theyve been interviewed by the legendary Sonny Payne during blues radio program King Biscuit Time (Sonny also played many songs from their CD); they appeared on a television program (Channel 3-WREG) where they talked about IBC with blues foundation president Jay Sieleman and performed an acoustic version of an old Little Walter song. Step Back Baby was declared by the Blues Foundation the TOP SELLER CD of the Blues Challenge 2006. Right after the IBC experience, the Jacknives started to work on their second CD, Too Many Ways, which contains a lot of new and self-written material. The cd has been presented at the Rootsway 2006 Festival, where the band had the pleasure to back up the legendary Paul Oscher. In the summer they accompanied David Lee Durham -singer and guitar player from Indianola Mississippi- in Italy and Switzerland, and they played with Bob Margolin during Bellinzona Blues Festival. One song from their last cd, called Depend On The Weather, has been chosen for a blues compilation CD sold by the Italian Experience magazine (number 9 of the magazine was dedicated to the Blues). They were the only European band in the CD, together with international artists such as Paul Oscher, Kenny Brown, Richard Johnston, David Lee Durham, etc."Marco Pandolfi & the Jacknives love the real blues. You can tell that by the way they play! They backed me up and I felt right at home. Marco Pandolfi on the harp and Marco Gisfredi on the guitar are both great and tasty players with a no frill-straight forward serious approach to the blues and their rhythm section, bass and drums really swings. They put on a great show. They set an example for younger bands in how to keep the blues alive"
PAUL OSCHER 2006
