Carnival of Soul

Guitarist Mike Zito continues his “Rock N’ Roll World Tour” (named for his new album on Ruf Records) with a performance at Fairfield Theatre Company’s StageOne venue Sunday, Dec. 15.

Zito’s “Rock ’n’ Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry” dropped Nov. 1 and quickly rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart. Featuring 21 guest guitarists honoring the late, great rock ’n’ roll guitar trailblazer, those performing on the album include Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Eric Gales, Robben Ford, Richard Fortus, Sonny Landreth, Luther Dickinson, Albert Castiglia and Anders Osborne. Also performing on the album is Charles Berry III, Berry’s grandson. The album is produced by Zito and was recorded at his Marz Studios.

“This was a very special project for me,” Zito said in a news release. “I lived in Chuck’s hometown of St. Louis for thirty-two years, and I worked at a small musical instrument store where his drummer also happened to be employed. Chuck’s son would drop by on occasion as well. He was an icon, and rightfully so. I’ve been playing his songs since I was a kid. Needless to say, he was a tremendous influence on my career, and, of course, on many other musicians’ as well.”

“Every song on this album is worthy of your attention,” wrote Glide Magazine about “Rock ’n’ Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry,” adding “an outstanding collection that takes you through a lot of your favorite Chuck Berry tunes like ‘No Particular Place to Go’ (with Jeremiah Johnson), as well as tunes that you hear less frequently like ‘“Havana Moon’ (featuring Sonny Landreth). This album is best enjoyed with the volume cranked. Don’t be surprised if you work up a bit of a sweat dancing to all these old favorites featuring so many great guitarists.”

Zito recently launched his own new label, Texas-based Gulf Coast Records, which counts among its artists Albert Castiglia, Billy Price, Jimmy Carpenter, Tony Campanella, Diana Rein, The Proven Ones, Kid Andersen and others to be announced.