JOE BONAMASSA – British Blues Explosion (live) Album Review plus SWLABR Video

CD REVIEW BY WRITER PETE SARGEANT

This set brings back memories of a balmy Summer evening out at Greenwich, with Joe bringing a quality band onstage to play a set that took in the various works of and numbers made famous by Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

It’s probably fair to say that each of these guitar stylists has been a major influence on Bonamassa and of course Joe had kitted himself out with the requisite axes, all vintage and swapped over at speed by his well-drilled techs.

That evening, director Kevin Shirley was charging around getting the whole shebang recorded. The actual material on here ranges from the very obvious to the less-performed but makes for a satisfying mix, overall.

The group includes cool bassist Michael Rhodes ( first noticed by this writer on a Jill Sobule album), drummer Anton Fig the Letterman band stalwart, the fabulous Double Trouble keys wizard Reese Wynans and Russ Irwin on guitars.

There are a lot of opportunities for Joe to play out, the numbers are not heavily re-arranged from the original recorded versions so the group gets underway and pretty much pays homage to the inspiring artists.

One thing about the original acts when you saw them perform was the interplay – especially Cream, The Jeff Beck Group and Led Zeppelin. Even more so with contemporaries Savoy Brown, Fleetwood Mac and Chicken Shack where in addition to the musical skills a great sense of fun could be enjoyed.

This element does not come to the fore in this more business-like performance but the execution of the songs by this aggregation is of high quality.

Beck’s Bolero blends into Rice Pudding, Mainline Florida is given a linear flow that probably shows Joe at his most effective. Boogie With Stu is from LZ of course whilst the grinding riff of Let Me Love You Baby evokes that epochal Truth album from Jeff Beck. Whereas Plynth brings the Beck-Ola album to mind, along with Spanish Boots.

Double Crossing Time may be an obvious choice, from Mayall days and SWLABR is the Cream song from Disraeli Gears. Back to Zep inclusions, Tea For One rolls into I Can’t Quit You, the classic blues.

Little Girl close cousin, of Wolf’s Forty Four, is a tune that Joe and I have talked about and no surprise that it’s here. The ascending chordal steps on the solo is hard to resist and it sounds terrific, dynamic. Pretending follows, then an absorbing Black Winter / Django. To wrap up, How Many More Times takes the old Wolf riff for a walk, insistent and ominous.