Gino Baronelli – The Blues Don

When you hear Gino’s music you will not be inundated with second-hand, note for note karaoke copies of any other artists’ works. Gino has his own strong, natural guitar tone that comes almost completely from his fingers gliding and bending on the strings. He does not need effects, except maybe the occasional clean boost. Couple that with the genuine bluesy quality of his vocals and you are treated to a smooth melodic performance of the Blues. Gino’s career spans decades, beginning in his childhood in the 1940’s and 50’s when he played trumpet and sang in the church choir. When he moved with his family to Los Angeles as a teenager in the late 1950’s, he first heard Blues music coming from his neighbor, Mr. Jones’s, house. One day Mr. Jones “caught” Gino sitting on his front porch, thus starting a friendship that not only nurtured Gino’s love for the Blues but also provided him with an education in the history of the genre and its artists. Gino’s father would also influence Gino’s musical calling during this time. Gino was not only a fan of the Blues he wanted to play the Blues, specifically Blues guitar. He was told that because he had big hands he would not be a good Blues guitar player. As a fan of country music, his father thought the country genre would be a better fit and would introduce Gino to many country guitar artists of the time. However, it was the one non-country encounter that would solidify his drive to play Blues music. He was given the opportunity to shake hands and have a conversation with the late great Freddy King. Freddy’s hand enveloped Gino’s. And when Freddy told Gino that the Howlin’ Wolf, Chester Burnett, had hands that made Freddy’s look small, Gino was convinced that he could and would be a Blues guitar man. Gino did not always play the Blues. Like any teenager of the 1950’s and young adult of the 1960’s he dug rock and roll music. He and his friend Peter Lewis [who would later gain fame as a member of Moby Grape] played together in various venues around Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Topanga. It was during this time that he met Alan Wilson. He and Peter would frequent a Sunday jam session in Topanga Canyon hosted by Alan and his band Canned Heat. Throughout this period Gino also fronted his own bands including the Reformation, Age of Reason, and Sioux Uprising, playing in the same venues as the Doors, Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Canned Heat, and many of the other up-and-coming bands in the Los Angeles Area, until he was drafted into the Army. After the Army, music was still an important part of life, but it shared time with Gino raising his own family. Upon relocating to the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1970’s he was able to become totally immersed in Blues music as Blues was the predominate genre in the area. His first introduction was to a venue called Eli’s Mile High run by none other than Eli Thornton himself. Eli hosted a weekly jam session where everyone who was anyone who played the Blues would be known to “drop by”, whether they lived on the west coast or were just cruising through town on a tour. Among those Gino met were “Cool Papa, Haskell Sadler, and his bass player, Charlie Hopkins. Gino was asked to fill in for Papa’s guitar player, Jimmie Caroompas, who had been in an accident. Talk about “right place, right time”! From then on, Gino was on the list of the area’s elite Blues guitar players for any Blues act looking to hire local talent. This was how he came to play behind by some of the great Blues performers including John Lee Hooker, Red Archibald, Catfish Walker, Charlie Musselwhite, Craig Horton, Roy Gaines, and Alvin Draper. It was Mr. Hooker who first called Gino the Blues Don. During one of their first performances, when introducing the band John stumbled over Baronelli, Gino’s last name. Instead of fighting it, on the fly he said, “Folks, on guitar, Gino, the Blues Don.” It was solidified as Gino’s moniker when, during performances, the others also presented Gino, the Blues Don, as the guitar player. Seven decades later, Gino continues to play and be a fan of the Blues and Blues-oriented music. A few years ago, while living in Los Angeles, Gino had the opportunity to record an all-original music CD, Blues You Can’t Refuse © 2014, an anthology of his life experiences, from a stalking fan to unrequited love, love lost, loneliness and despair, to homelessness. Today, living in Las Vegas, Gino continues to perform, fronting Blues a Nostra, a Blues oriented band, Nostra Jazz, a Jazz band, and Seraphic Cousins, a mixed genre duo. Performance Information.