Veronica Sbergia & Max De Bernardi aka Veronica & The Red Wine Serenaders : Old Stories For Modern Times (2012) / The Mexican Dress (2014) / Backyard Favourites (2018)

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Roots, rag & jug
Sometimes using the name Veronica & The Red Wine Serenaders, sometimes just Max & Veronica, Veronica Sbergia & Max De Bernardi (according to a confidential source, his nickname would be Droopy !) describe their repertoire on their Web site as “an irresistible blend of rural music from the 20’s and 30’s  : country blues, ragtime, hokum, jug band, vaudeville music and hillbilly, played using strictly acoustic instruments such ukuleles, washboard, kazoo, double bass and guitars” (*). They devote themselves to “keeping this precious musical heritage alive, faithfully reproducing its original sound whilst playing it with a modern twist” (*). This is a perfect definition of the music offered by this Italian duo from Milano.

La signora Sbergia sings with her sensual cheeky voice and play the “exotic” instruments (washboard – with hairbrushes ! ―, kazoo, glockenspiel and sometimes ukulele), while il signore De Bernardi is an excellent acoustic and Resophonic guitar (aka dobro), mandolin and ukulele player, as well as a singer too. The duo is in fact a trio : their regular accomplice, upright-bass player Dario Polerani, is present on the three albums.

On “Old Stories For Modern Times” they've got help from a couple of friends : Massimo Gatti on mandolin and Leo Di Giacomo on acoustic guitar on “Some of These Days”. Two prestigious guests also accepted to participate each to a couple of numbers : Sugar Blue on harmonica (#1 & 15) and expert guitar-picker Bob Brozman on Resophonic slide guitar (#5 & 9).

On “The Mexican Dress” (2014), Joe Tepp brought his banjo and clarinet on #15, while Denny Hall plays uilleann pipes (Irish bagpipe) on #6. On “Backyard Favourites”, they are joined by harmonicists Anthony Cresci (#6) and Beppe “Harmonica Slim” Semeraro (#11).

Old Stories For Modern Times (2012)
This roots revival collection covering old songs sometimes from obscure artists, opens with a 1938 Sidney Bechet piece, “Viper Mad”, introducing the swinging atmosphere of the album. It's followed by the saucy hokum “Press My Button (Ring My Bell)” (Lil Johnson, 1936) whose lyrics I'll leave you the pleasure to decode !, followed by the hobo's drinking song “Ragged But Right” (Riley Puckett, 1934); the swinging “Some Of These Days”, a 1910 song from one Sophie Tucker, played with a gypsy jazz twist; a song from 1936 written by Mississippi Sheiks' Armenter Chatmon aka Bo Carter, “Cigarette Blues”, featuring an impressive dobro slide part by De Bernardi who also sings.

The following tracks, all from the 1920s & 1930s as well, are as rejoicing and full of energy : “Beedle Um Bum”, a cover of The Hokum Boys from 1928; the always enjoyable Jimmie Rodgers' classic “Miss The Mississippi And You” (1932); “Sweet Papa (Mama’s Getting Mad)” (Aileen Stanley, 1920) greatly delivered by Sbergia on vocals; the 1933 country blues from the Delmore Brothers “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar”; the poignant “The Last Kind Words” (Geeshie Wiley, 1930); “Keep Your Hands Off Her”, a humorous Big Bill Broonzy title from 1935; “Long As I Can See You Smile”, a Memphis Minnie (real name Lizzie Douglas) song from 1938 or 1939; “Kentucky Blues” (Little Hat Jones, 1930); and the final country & western and bluegrass mix “Charming Betsy”, going back to 1925 and created by Henry “Texas Ragtime” Thomas, featuring Sugar Blue's elaborate harmonica.

A fascinating jump through time into the pre-war roots of contemporary popular music, superbly performed by two excellent musicians who seem to know a lot about the music and musicians from this period.

The Mexican Dress (2014)
This dress swirls and swings around la signora Sbergia like a ballgown around a teenage girl at her first prom dance. For the first time the duo includes originals : four songs written by De Bernardi, alone or with his companion Veronica, and two by Denny Hall.

The opening title track, signed Max and Veronica, swings nicely. De Bernardi's jazzy guitar is enriched with several overdubs and even Polerani dares a short bass solo while Sbergia hasn't lost a bit of her seducing power. Hall's blues “Didn't Mean A Thing” has a slight country flavor brought by De Bernardi's Resophonic guitar which sounds like a banjo at times.

Sbergia's rejoicing kazoo appears on “Weed Smoker's Dream”, a jazz tune written by “Kansas Joe” McCoy (brother of Papa Charlie McCoy) from the Harlem Hamfats (in fact a Chicago jazz and “dirty blues” band), originally titled "Why Don't You Do Right?" but recorded as the “Weed…” around 1936. Next comes another “dirty blues” from 1929, the hokum “Caught Us Doing It” from The Hokum Boys.

Other innovation of the album, the strangely titled De Bernardi's instrumental “The Resurrection Of The Honey Badger”, not really a blues, nor a folk neither a real bluegrass, but a blend of them and a nice demonstration of De Bernardi's guitar skills. Heading for the Irish roots of American folk music, De Bernardi's also wrote the nostalgic ballad “Curse The Day”, featuring his nice 12-string guitar sound and Hall's really appealing uilleann pipes. On all of these tracks except the instrumental, Sbergia is proving her vocal mastery.

Hall's gospel “Gloryland” is punctuated by deep low choruses from the boys while Sbergia does the lead singing. “Crying Time”, co-written by Max and Veronica has a nice retro-jazz twist, while the traditional gospel “Paul And Silas” has been transformed into a Rev. Gary Davis-like lively swinging blues sung by both Veronica and Max.

The Irish uilleann pipes

“Dope Head Blues”, written in 1927 by the famous Victoria Spivey, sometimes dubbed the Za Zu Girl  back in her vaudeville period, is a straight blues tastefully sung by Sbergia. La signora carries on the swinging “When The Music Sounds Good” (Amos Easton aka Bumble Bee Slim, 1936) with De Bernardi's jazzy guitar, and the 1910s nostalgic “Shine On Harvest Moon”, before De Bernardi's roots voice takes on “Banana In Your Fruitbasket“, a Bo Carter's blues with a vintage guitar sound.

Sbergia's voice is perfect for the following track, the lively “Who's That Knocking On My Door” from jazz singer Annette Hanshaw, and after a few seconds of silence making you think the album's finished, a short “lost track” suddenly bursts in, “Baby Please Loan Me Your Heart”, a 1929 number from Papa Charlie Jackson dug out by the couple.

With this opus, more varied than “Old Stories…”, the Italian couple continue to revive 1920s-30s songs with their very appealing way of mixing their deep respect for old time music with a modern sound.

Backyard Favourites (2018)
De Bernardi's guitar has got a nice jazzy touch and Sbergia's vocals are sexier than ever on this album more jazz-oriented than their previous opuses but always devoted to the 1920s-30s repertoire, particularly jump blues in a vaudeville atmosphere.

The album opens with Sbergia's hilarious jug band-style kazoo on “The Candy Man”. This irresistibly funny instrument will appear again on “Root Hog Or Die” and “Sadie Green”.

Blues is strongly present under different styles with songs like the rhythmic “I'm Waiting On You”; “If You Want The Rainbow”; the outstanding 1936 Big Bill Broonzy's “Good Liquor Gonna Carry Me Down”; the gospel-flavored lyrics of “Praying Blues”; the jazzy “Rock Me”; or the excellent “I Got Mine”, enlightened by the rich sound of De Bernardi's 12-string guitar.

There's also “Foggy River” that has a certain country/bluegrass twist. The album ends with two jazzy titles : on the swinging “Sadie Green”, superbly sung by Sbergia who's blowing her kazoo again for our greatest pleasure, De Bernardi's guitar has a fine gypsy jazz twist again, while the final “Delta Bound” features a nice part of harmonica by Beppe Semeraro and again the seducing voice of la signora.

From these three exciting albums, besides Sbergia's spellbinding vocals, I will personally point out the appealing way the duo (trio if we count bassist Dario Polerani) modernizes their throw-back repertoire to make it more accessible to contemporary ears while respecting the spirit of the songs they dug out from the past, A proof of great musical intelligence. ■

Memphis Minnie & husband
"Kansas Joe" McCoy

► Who wrote what and when on “Old Stories For Modern Times”
01. Viper Mad : Sidney Bechet, 1938
02. Press my button (Ring my bell) : Lil Johnson, 1936
03. Ragged but right : Riley Puckett, 1934
04. Some of these days : Sophie Tucker, 1910
05. Cigarette blues : Armenter Chatmon (from the Mississippi Sheiks) aka Bo Carter, 1936
06. Beedle Um Bum : The Hokum Boys, 1928
07. They ain’t walking : Lucille Bogan, 1930
08. Miss the Mississippi and you : Jimmie Rodgers, 1932
09. Sweet Papa (Mama’s getting mad) : Aileen Stanley, 1920
10. Gonna lay down my old guitar : Delmore Brothers, 1933
11. The last kind words : Geeshie Wiley, 1930
12. Keep your hands off her : Big Bill Broonzy, 1935
13. Long as I can see you smile : Memphis Minnie, 1938-1939
14. Kentucky blues : Little Hat Jones, 1930
15. Charming Betsy : “Texas Ragtime” Henry Thomas, 1925

Armenter Chatmon aka Bo Carter

► Who wrote what and when on “The Mexican Dress”
01. The Mexican dress : Max and Veronica
02. Didn't mean a thing : Denny Hall
03. Weed smoker's dream : "Kansas Joe" McCoy/Harlem Hamfats , 1936
04. Caught us doing it : The Hokum Boys, 1929
05. The Resurrection of the Honey Badger : Max De Bernardi
06. Curse the day : Max De Bernardi
07. Gloryland : Denny Hall
08. Crying time : Max and Veronica
09. Paul and Silas: Traditional gospel
10. Dope head blues: Victoria Spivey, 1927
11. When the music sounds good: Amos Easton aka Bumble Bee Slim, 1936
12. Shine on harvest moon : Tin Pan Alley song from the 1910s
13. Banana in your fruitbasket : Bo Carter, 1930s
14. Who's that knocking on my door : Annette Hanshaw, 1927
15. Baby please loan me your heart : Papa Charlie Jackson, 1929

Big Bill Broonzy

► Who wrote what and when on “Backyard Favourites”
01. The candy man : Herb Morand, 1938-39
02. I'm waiting on you : unknown
03. If you want the rainbow : Mort Dixon, Oscar Levant & Billy Rose, 1928
04. Foggy river : Fred Rose, 1946
05. Good liquor gonna carry me down : Big Bill Broonzy, 1936
06. Praying blues : unknown
07. Root hog or die : "Kansas Joe" McCoy, 1938

08. Rock me : Curtis Jones & Lil' Son Jackson, 1939
09. I got mine : John Queen & Charlie Cartwell, 1902
10. Sadie Green (The Vamp Of New Orleans) : Johnny Dunn & Gilbert Wells, 1926
11. Delta bound : Alex Hill, 1932


► Live videos... are better than long speeches

● Spazio Teatro 89, Milano, Italy, 2012 : https://youtu.be/fJzvVdbGWEU
● Woody Guthrie Centennial tribute concert, Milano, 2012 : https://youtu.be/3BX6aaAXIQY?t=219
● AllStar Guitar, Gig Harbor, WA, 2013 : https://youtu.be/bkldCp5NqW8
● European Blues Challenge 2013, Le Bikini, Toulouse, France : https://youtu.be/uqAdp3D0yaw
● Max De Bernardi & Dario Polerani, 2014 : https://youtu.be/6oDxPa_KA-o
● Germignaga, Italy, 2015 : https://youtu.be/uwjtdzhyNfw?t=210
● Black & Blues Festival, Besozzo, Italy (with Luther Dickinson), 2015 : https://youtu.be/flx9kx4rYqU

● The Miley, Rochford, UK :
→ 2018 : https://youtu.be/fQWjMxZGxdo
→ 2019 : https://youtu.be/flolt-NJKys
● Twenty One Cafe, Southend-on-Sea, UK, 2022 : https://youtu.be/UcUa5FV9V7I
● Dusty's Blues Club, High Wycombe, UK, 2022 : https://youtu.be/kxH1ljUYh6k
● Mississippi Blues & Barbecue Festival, Berlin, Germany, 2022 : https://youtu.be/v8QT2K7_lCQ

A  jug band in the early twentieth century