Vincenzo Martorella

The Profile

Author of Il Blues, an essay on the origins and development of the blues.

Wrote Il Blues, a book that traces the origins of the blues from Africa through the slave trade to the southern plantations and the Delta, reaching a focus in the 1930s with figures such as Robert Johnson. The book discusses 1920s urban singers (Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey), Delta artists (Skip James, Son House, Charley Patton) and anonymous plantation laborers, and includes historical reconstructions, artist portraits, and technical analyses of harmonic, metric, and lyrical structures. The review by Meco describes the essay as pleasantly readable, passionate, and expert.

Meco reviews Vincenzo Martorella's Il Blues as a readable, rigorous essay tracing the blues from African roots through the slave trade to the Delta and the 1930s. The book covers early urban blues singers (Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey) and Delta figures (Skip James, Son House, Charley Patton), and discusses harmonic, metric, and lyrical development. Reviewer highlights the book's balance of historical reconstruction, portraits, and technical analysis.