Biography Mariëlla Tirotto & the Blues Federation

The media about the band

…One of the best and most exciting blues bands, currently touring the country, in my opinion, is Mariëlla Tirotto & the Blues Federation… It’s an excellent live-band, who knows how to turn each performance into a great party with a mix of blues, jazz and funk…Mariëlla Tirotto knows how to attract the audience with her beautiful, dark voice. Like no other, she knows how to play to the crowd...” (Eric Campfens, Barnowlblues)

… An explosion of delightful blues music… (Saal Birgit, Viersen on Juke Joint Bluesradio)

... This blues touches your soul deeply…  (Michel Preumont, Rootsville.be)

… The group effortlessly charms the audience… (Anke Mensink, Block Magazine)

… to see and hear a born talent at work, or rather, born talents, for the lead singer Mariella as well as her Blues Federation know perfectly well what they are doing… (Freddy, Rootsville.be)

Music style and performance

Mariëlla Tirotto & the Blues Federation flirts with the boundaries of Blues and are carrying the traditional form into the future.
An authentic band that plays adventurous and exciting blues of the new millennium.
They win new fans at every next concert, and they are certainly not just blues-lovers.

The musicians form an unprecedentedly tight group, but at the same time they are  - each and every one of them – virtuoso soloists, the guitar player as well as the blues harp player as also the bass player/ pianist, the drummer and  the guest-percussionist. Furthermore the evident pleasure that the band exudes, keeps the audience entranced from beginning to end. During a show you are swept off your feet by the extremely variable emotions, brought in a mixture of original material and adapted songs.

In the more than three years of their existence they have played a lot of successful gigs during blues- and jazz festivals in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, as well as numerous club gigs and a few theatre concerts. For 2010, concerts are scheduled in clubs and for festivals in the Netherlands and Germany. In addition, other European countries are in the pipeline.

Highlight up to now was the booking by the programmers of the “Rother Bluestage”, a 9 day festival where bands like Ten Years After, Mothers Finest, Popa Chubby, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Moore and many others have performed in the course of years.
In 2010 besides Mariëlla Tirotto & the Blues Federation o.a. Joan Armatrading, Mick Taylor, Snowy White Blues Project, Ana Popovic, Eric Bibb, Blues Caravan 2010, Big Daddy Wilson Trio, The Brew en Julian Sas: http://www.bluestage.de/bluestage2010/index2.html

CD

Their first CD “Somewhere down the road”, for the greater part containing original material, was released by the end of November, 2008.It is received very well and has gotten many great reviews in the Netherlands as well as in Germany, Belgium and England; it also has been chosen CD of the week/month in several radio shows and on various internet sites.
Currently the band is busy writing new songs for the second CD that will be released in the spring of 2011.

Band members

Mariëlla Tirotto & the Blues Federation is fronted by the  passionate, half-Italian singer Mariëlla Tirotto, who sometimes whispers with a sultry voice, sometimes screams out her emotions raw and unrestrained.
Although her voice is frequently compared with those of singers like Etta James, Carmen McRae, Cassandra Wilson, Eartha Kitt, Diane Schuur, Grace Jones en Tina Turner, she has an obvious characteristic sound.
She appeared on national television and radio, has worked together – a.o. – with Bob Malach, Ronald Snijders and Carlo de Wijs and has shared the stage with –a.o. – Rolf Delfos, Eelco Gelling, Toon de Gouw, Chris Strik, Gé Bijvoet and Maurizio Pugno.
… but also as a distinctly fascinating singer, that totally convinces with her deep, raw, or, to put it bluntly, erotic voice
(Tobias Tschapka, Donaukurier.de)
… Mariëlla Tirotto's stage performance is fabulous, her behaviour is sympathetic and she can sing damned well…
 (Claus Kohlmann, Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung)
… A power woman with a big voice and lots of humour…
(Hans von Draminski, Hipoltsteiner Zeitung)

The master guitar player Harald Koll – Heins’ cousin– uses as many as three guitars to tell his musical tale. He makes them weep, growl (and growls along with them sometimes), sing and thrum.He shared the stage – a.o. – with Tommy Emanuel, Eelco Gelling, Andy McGee and Stephen Bennet.
... Harald Koll's guitar techniques are superb and he has the ability to create captivating melodic pieces with a haunting character...
(Henk te Veldhuis,Bridge Guitar Reviews © 2007 )
… His timing is characteristic … his attack is powerful…
 (Stefan Woldach, Akustik Gitarre)

Michel de Kok, on the blues harp, knows how to add an extra dimension to the music with his passionate playing: it’s clear that he lets himself become carried away by the music.He plays cordlessly, and this often gives him the opportunity to visit the audience.
…Take ‘Somewhere Down The Road’, a thumping good number with a sublime Michel De Kok at the blues harp. Fantastic ….
(Freddy, Rootsville)
… Michel's tearing harmonica playing raises the long slow-blues 'Confused woman's blues' to the ultimate 'goose pimple moment'…
 (Kris Vermeulen, Keys & Chords)

Bass player / pianist Heins Greten, Mariëlla’s husband, expresses his musical emotions by playing the bass, grooving in an incredible way one minute, while switching to his piano the next, conjuring up enchantingly beautiful, melancholic chords.
Heins shared the stage – a.o. – with Eelco Gelling, Toon de Gouw and Ton van de Geyn.
...I was absolutely delighted listening to the bass lines played by Heins Greten, they were both thorough and exciting...
(Wil Wijnhoven; www.bluesbreeker.nl)
... Herman Brood's 'Window Of My Eyes' focuses on the musical talent of piano player Heins Greten...
(Noel Verleyen, Blues Magazine Back  to the Roots)

Drummer John Kakiay is the other half of the rhythm tandem. His playing, at times solid, at others, more subtle but more especially playful and laid-back, provides a firm foundation. John and Heins feel each other’s moves intuitively, so everything just swings and grooves even without the rest of the band cutting in: an ensemble that’s not experienced very often. John has played in the Netherlands as well as abroad with – a.o. – Driftkikker (support act for Hans Dulfer, Wouter Hamel), Tasha (Tasha’s World), Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation) and Hans van Eijk (Jumping Jewels).
...For the greater part one has to give credit for that to the phenomenal drummer John Kakiay. He is the Grand Master of grooving. Little people can swing as effortless as he does, switching from one musical mood to another… 
(Claus Kohlmann, Hildesheimer Allgemeine)
… drummer John Kakiay had a lot of success, playing a sensational drum solo, almost drowned out by the applause and the cheers of the crowd…
(Fons Kersbulck, Bluesmagazine)