The Essence of the Blues
http://www.gibson.com
Duration : 2:33
Joe Bonamassa – Essence of the blues
Posted by admin | Under Joe Bonamassa Tuesday Jul 1, 2008Sloe Gin by guitar wiz Joe Bonamassa
Posted by admin | Under Joe Bonamassa Sunday Jun 29, 2008
For his seventh studio album, guitar wiz Joe Bonamassa has chosen to work again with producer Kevin Shirley, who produced the highly successful and hugesounding You Me for Bonamassa in 2006. This outing, though, is far from a ditto session, with a much more acoustic feel and a greater focus on Bonamassa’s singing, which unfortunately has been generally (and unfairly) overshadowed by his guitar playing. Bonamassa has also stepped up his songwriting (four of the 11 tracks here are originals; the rest are blues and hard rock covers) and cut way down on his clich
Joe Bonamassa Live on Dutch National Television Talpa.
Posted by admin | Under Joe Bonamassa Sunday Jun 1, 2008
Joe Bonamassa played Bridge To Better Days live on Dutch National Television Station Talpa. The broadcasted talkshow TV show Barend & Van Dorp invited Bonamassa to play a track of his album You & Me released by Provogue Records in Europe. You & Me was rewarded by Classic Rock UK as THE BLUES ALBUM OF 2006!!
Duration : 0:5:21
Joe Bonamassa – Sloe Gin @ North Sea Jazz 2007
Posted by admin | Under Joe Bonamassa Thursday May 29, 2008
Joe Bonamassa – Sloe Gin
Live @ North Sea Jazz 2007
(Rotterdam Ahoy, Netherlands)
Duration : 0:6:33
Who taught Smokin’ Joe Bonamassa how to play guitar….and the correct answer is!?
Posted by admin | Under Joe Bonamassa Sunday May 25, 2008Smokin Joe Bonamassa is a young guitar virtuoso from Texas. He was a former member of Bloodline. We know the answer! Wonder if anyone else does . . .
Born in upstate New York, Joe Bonamassa started playing on a short scale Chiquita guitar at the age of four, graduating to a full-scale guitar at seven. By the time he was 8, Joe was playing the blues like a veteran. “Stevie Ray Vaughn was a huge influence in my early days,” says Bonamassa, “but not my only one. I was influenced by all the great blues masters – Duke Robillard, Danny Gatton, Eric Clapton, and Robben Ford were all musicians I gravitated towards. I just naturally loved the blues and the seductive sound of the Stratocaster.” At ten, Joe was performing locally, and at twelve, he was asked to open for B.B. King. After the performance, King would say, “This kid’s potential is so great that he hasn’t begun to scratch the surface. He’s one of a kind….a legend before his time.” The Father of the Blues’ high regard for Joe would be echoed by the guitar greats who would later perform with Bonamassa, including Buddy Guy, Danny Gatton, Robert Cray and Stephen Stills. In the following two years, Joe established such a name for himself that Fender Guitars invited him to California to participate in a tribute to the company’s founding father, Leo Fender, in a line-up that included Robben Ford, whom Joe cites as a major inspiration and “one of my favorite guitar players of all time.” While on the West Coast, Joe also met the musician who became the nucleus of the band that would start him on the road to international recognition. “While I was out there, I met Berry Oakley, Jr. [son of legendary Allman Brothers bassist]. It turned out that the sons of famous musicians knew other sons of famous musicians, so he was lifelong friends with Waylon Krieger, who is Robby Krieger’s [Doors guitarist] son, and Waylon Krieger knew Erin Davis, who is Miles Davis’ son, who is a drummer,” says Joe. The group named the band Bloodline. Their self-titled debut CD on EMI (which also featured a guest appearance by Allman Brothers guitarist Warren Haynes) produced two chart hits, “Stone Cold Hearted” and “Dixie Peach”; their hard-driving fusion of blues, boogie, funk, and southern roadhouse rock galvanized audiences across the country. Following high expectations and initial success, Bloodline eventually disbanded. Joe, realizing that to have the kind of future in music he wanted he would need to play more than guitar, began studying with a vocal coach. In 2000, Joe finished work on his debut solo CD, A New Day Yesterday. With his newfound vocal confidence, the new disc featured great appearances by such fabled guitar monsters as Gregg Allman, Rick Derringer, and Leslie West. The CD’s producer, the legendary Tom Dowd who, in the course of his 25-year career at Atlantic Records, recorded everyone from the Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles to John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman would become a Joe admirer and friend. The memorable melodies and potent guitar work of A New Day Yesterday brought to mind the classic blues-based rock of Cream, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Jeff Beck Group, and the Allman Brothers Band. The album included such outstanding originals as the forthcoming single “Miss You, Hate You” and the slide guitar showcase “Cradle Rock” along with a powerhouse version of the title song “A New Day Yesterday,” first recorded by Jethro Tull in 1969. Putting together a power trio, Bonamassa spent the next ten months touring in support of the A New Day Yesterday. Upon returning from the road in 2002, Bonamassa hooked up Clif Magness (Avril Lavigne) to record the muscular and sweeping studio disc So, It’s Like That, which hit #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart multiple times. With its inspired fusion of classic blues and pop production, So, It’s Like That helped expand Bonamassa’s already impressive fan base even further. To celebrate 2003 The Year of the Blues, Bonamassa released Blues Deluxe, featuring nine cover versions of blues classics alongside three originals. The recording of Blues Deluxe was inspired while Bonamassa was in the midst of a two-plus year tour in support of So, It’s Like That. Fans, immersed in every bluesy note of his acclaimed live performances, often asked whether a full blues record was in the offing. When the tour ended, Bonamassa entered the studio with producer Bob Held and engineer Gary Tole (David Bowie, Jimmy Vaughan, Bon Jovi) and recorded a handful of blues covers to “blow off steam.” The resulting masters were so compelling that Bonamassa and his label decided to finish the record and release Blues Deluxe in time for The Year of the Blues celebrations. While touring in support of Blues Deluxe, Joe became involved with Blues in the Schools (BITS), a program developed by The Blues Foundation to help perpetuate the heritage and legacy of blues music to new generation of music fans. The BITS lectures take teenage students on a journey, tracing the evolution of blues music, from its birth among the field workers of the Delta during the late 1800’s up to the present day. The lectures include a live performance by Bonamassa. Excited and energized by what he has accomplished with Blues Deluxe, Bonamassa, with producer Bob Held joining him again, went back into the studio in 2004 to record the follow up to Blues Deluxe. Joe’s latest CD, entitled Had To Cry Today, continues where Blues Deluxe left off. Mixing original and classic blues, Had To Cry Today incorporates influences of Chicago, Delta and British blues into something wholly unique and electric. From the 40s and 50s music of BB King, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy to the English invasion of the Yardbirds, Clapton and Cream, Had To Cry Today deftly elaborates on the many faces of modern music’s most influential genre.
You & Me — Joe Bonamassa’s fifth studio album
Posted by admin | Under Joe Bonamassa Thursday May 22, 2008
Despite his statement in the liner notes that “In an era where it is best to play it safe, I chose to take a risk…,” there isn’t much surprising or risky about young guitarist Joe Bonamassa’s fifth studio album. Most of his previous releases have mixed blues covers with his own originals, all played with a rocker’s attitude, volume and lessthansubtle approach. This one follows suit and even though he goes on to say that he “wanted to make a blues album, not a rock album that has blues on it,” as in the past; it’s impossible to claim that he has succeeded with You Me. That doesn’t make this a bad or disappointing disc; quite the contrary, it’s a solid bluesrock release and arguably his best work to date. But as early as the second track, an original rocker titled “Bridge to Better Days,” Bonamassa takes off on an early Free/Savoy Brownstyled stomper. Things settle down and get more rootsy on the following two slow blues tracks, although a lovely Bonamassa original, “Asking Around for You,” adds strings, not exactly a touch most would associate with pure blues. Regardless, it’s extremely effective and when the strings return on a nineandahalfminute cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Tea for One,” it is a spinetingling experience and possibly this album’s finest moment. Drummer Jason Bonham, who is excellent throughout, brings additional authenticity to the song his dad first played on. Bonamassa unplugs for a few middisc tracks, including a cover of “Tamp ‘Em Up Solid” (oddly credited to Ry Cooder but typically known as a traditional piece, even on Cooder’s version). Twelveyearold harmonica whiz L.D. Miller does his best John Popper imitation on a hyperactive version of Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Your Funeral and My Trial” (someone needs to inform the kid that playing lots of notes really fast doesn’t mean he has soul), and the instrumental titled “Django” shows that Bonamassa has been listening to Gary Moore’s “Parisienne Walkways.” It adds up to a quality Bonamassa disc that will please existing fans and might bring some new ones into the fold, but it’s also one that doesn’t take the chances that he claims might push the guitarist into uncharted territory.
- Hal Horowitz, All Music Guide
Recent Comments