Marco Pandolfi & The Jacknives

Marco Pandolfi & The Jacknives was born from a fundamental need: playing the blues without compromises.
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.
The band is a classic quartet made up of musicians who have been playing on the Italian blues scene for many years: Marco Pandolfi on vocals and harmonica, Marco Gisfredi on guitar, Federico Patarnello on drums and Luca Bernard on upright bass. Since their first meeting these four musicians have been driven by the strong desire to 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, apart from the popular classics, the rediscovery of less familiar blues artists from the 40's, 50's and 60's.
The Jacknives immediately started playing intensively in clubs and festivals throughout Italy 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, Jeff Turmes, Alex Schultz, Sean Costello, Tom Principato, Nine Below Zero, Frank Goldwasser, Kid Ramos, Bob Corritore, etc.
In January 2004 they accompanied the saxophone-harmonica player MICHAEL PELOQUIN (San Francisco-USA), while in the Spring of the same year they were the back up band for the singer-guitarist RICHARD RAY FARRELL (New York-USA). for all the dates of his Italian tour.
In July 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, Irvine-California), France (Radio 666, Caen-France), Belgium (Boom Boom Radio, Namur-Belgique) and Italy.
In 2004 Step Back Baby has been voted as one of the best blues records of the year in the French radio program SWEET HOME CHICAGO website (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/shc/disque2004.htm). In April 2005 they toured the France (Paris, Leon, Limoges, etc), and got a good review of the Paris concert in the prestigious magazine Soul Bag.
In the summer a big thing happened to the Jacknives: the band won the 2006 INTERNATIONAL BLUES CHALLENGE selections for Italy, sponsored by the association “ROOTS & BLUES”. That means that they have been selected from 62 Italian bands as the best blues group, and that they are going to represent their country in the prestigious international blues challenge, which is organized by the Blues Foundation (the most important blues organization in the world) and takes place every year in Memphis, USA. The International Blues Challenge is a judged “Battle of the Bands” in which competitors take the stage and play a short set for a panel of judges. The next year the Challenge enters its 22nd edition, and has evolved into the world’s biggest and most respected showcase for Blues musicians. This victory is a great chance for the band, almost a dream-come-true experience, but it’s particularly a big honour because this is the first time an Italian band takes part in the Memphis challenge.

marco pandolfi vocals, harmonica, guitar
Marco Pandolfi was brought closer to the blues by listening to Muddy Waters’ records.
Pandolfi has been playing on the Italian blues scene for many years now and has collaborated with some of the most well-known groups throughout Italy and abroad. His harmonica can be heard on tens of albums, including the famous English label Prestige thanks to his collaboration with the guitarist Ruggero Robin.
Over the years he has participated in some of the most important Italian and European festivals (Delta Blues Festival, Umbria Jazz, Darlington Blues Festival-UK, etc.) and he has had the opportunity to play with artists such as Lurrie Bell, Roomful Of Blues, R.J. Mischo, Lynwood Slim, Janiva Magness, Alex Schultz, etc.
He has played on several tours with Richard Ray Farrell, creating an unbeatable duo that was widely acclaimed in Italy, Switzerland and Spain.
His harmonica has been heard on various radio shows (Radio Deejay, Radio Dimensione Suono, RadioUno RAI) and he has also played on television (Deejay TV, Viva TV).
Even though Pandolfi is admired for his versatility, he has always preferred the powerful low-down-and-dirty sound of the first blues bands coming out of Chicago. The Jacknives, the band he fronts and his most personal project to date, was born to give life to that sound.

marco gisfredi guitar
Marco Gisfredi was introduced to the blues as a young boy. He started playing the guitar in 1992, immediately focusing on blues and rock ‘n’ roll. In the years that followed his passion for these genres pushed him to constantly explore thes