About Manlio Milazzi

Otis Spann once called the harmonica “the mother of the band.” That idea has stayed with Manlio Milazzi ever since: a small, unassuming instrument capable of carrying as much weight, personality, and emotion as anything louder around it.

Milazzi plays the harmonica as a voice — raw and forceful when the music calls for it, lyrical and elegant when it does not. His sound is rooted in post-war Chicago blues, but his approach has always reached beyond it, drawing equally on amplified blues harmonica, improvisation and a strong sense of song.

He first picked up the instrument at sixteen, working his way backwards through Muddy Waters’ recordings and the playing of James Cotton and Paul Oscher. He later studied with Canadian harmonica innovator Carlos del Junco, whose highly individual approach to the instrument became an important influence on his own development.

Over the years Milazzi has toured throughout Europe, performing in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Croatia. He has appeared several times at Trieste Loves Jazz, where he opened for Sugar Blue, and at Pordenone Blues Festival, both on its main stage and as part of Blues on the Road, sharing bills with artists including Ana Popovic and Matt Schofield. Other appearances include Roots Food & Blues in Parma and numerous festivals and clubs across Central Europe.

He performs both fronting his own electric band and alongside New York guitarist and singer JJ Appleton. With his band, bass and drums give him the space to work with the amplified harmonica sound he feels most at home in: physical, dynamic and deeply tied to the interaction of a live rhythm section. With Appleton, the focus shifts towards songs, interplay and accompaniment, with the harmonica moving continuously between lead voice and supporting instrument.

Milazzi also works regularly with guitarist Enrico Crivellaro, whose career has bridged the European and American blues scenes. In 2023, Milazzi and Appleton released North of the Sea, an intimate, song-driven record built around the dialogue between voice, guitar and harmonica.