Bluebird Reviews thinks that it would be fair to say that there are not many doubts that, in every chart citing the 10 best Rock, Blues/Rock and Hard-Rock guitarists in the world of the last half a century, the name of the late great Northern-Irish Guitar Maestro Gary Moore would be appearing every time.
An artist that has performed a very wide range of music throughout his career, going from Hard-Rock, Blues/Rock, Metal and even Jazz, Moore has been and still is to these days one of the major inspirations for young (and well famous fellow artists too) musicians willing to learn the craft of such a legendary and inspiring music talents that left us too soon, sadly, when Moore was only 58.
The career of this formidable Guitar Maestro has been incredible from the start. The Northern-Irish artist has played with some of the biggest names of the music business, from Skid Row to Thin Lizzy, Albert Collins, George Harrison, B.B. King, Albert King, Jack Bruce, Beach Boys, The Traveling Wilburys, Glenn Hughes and Ginger Baker, among many others and that says enough about the colossal reputation and the respect that the Belfast-born guitarist and singer/songwriter has gained throughout all his musical life.
Now, fourteen years after his passing, the record label Mascot Label Group has decided to release a 2008 live recording of Gary Moore's Baloise Session (previously called AVO Session) set in Switzerland, where Moore played a bunch of heavy guitar-fuelled tracks that displayed once again the incredible level of talent of an artist and as a live performer that, in these very days, the world of music still misses heavily.
This live recording is vintage Gary Moore; throughout the 8 tracks included in this live album, Moore hypnotises every single member of the crowd through the astonishing level of power and precision expressed through his ferocious guitar playing style, going through a setlist that, in many respects, was designed to encompass Moore's career, by performing a series of covers of artists he worked with, like Albert King (Oh, Pretty Woman) or Thin Lizzy (Don't Believe A Word) or songs of artists that have heavily inspired Moore through the years, like Chuck Berry (Thirty Days (To Come Back Home)) or Al Kooper (I Love You More Than You'll Ever Known), with the latter song being, in our website's opinion, one of the highest points of the whole set.
Gary Moore's vocals might have not been hugely advertised as much as his talent on guitar has been, in the artist's career, but this fabulous live performance just goes to prove how powerful and convincing the Northern-Irish guitarist and singer/songwriters was as a singer too, just as he was as a Rock guitarist and as a live performer.
Supported by a stellar cast of musicians on stage (Pete Rees on bass, Vic Martin on keys and drummer Brian Downey (previously with Thin Lizzy)), Gary Moore is an absolute fury on guitar the moment he set foot on stage, commanding both his band and the crowd with such swagger, power, precision and relentless will to perform, like every concert would be his very last.
A record to buy, to listen and to love from beginning to end. Live From Baloise Session is the ultimate statement of Blues/Rock and Rock immortality delivered by one of the greatest guitarists and performer of the last century.
Live From Baloise Session is out now and it is available to be purchased via Mascot Label Group / Provogue
