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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Joe Bonamassa is not just one of the most celebrated guitarists of this generation but also somebody that likes to express his talent through venues of a certain grandiosity. Last time he chose to record a live album in a fairly small club was few years ago at The Borderline in London, UK, at the time of The Tour De Force project. Since then, all of his live albums have been recorded in some of the most important music venues worldwide.
Located few miles away from where the Guitar Maestro lives, The Greek Theatre is a magnificent structure situated almost opposite to Berkeley University in California, the perfect place for Bonamassa to end the 14-dates Three Kings Tour, dedicated to Albert King, Freddie King and B.B. King's music.
In comparison to his previous live release, a tribute to Howlin' Wolf's wide discography, Live At The Greek Theatre shows a greater determination and passion in honouring three of all-time giants of the blues genre.
Although the choice of songs selected by Bonamassa maybe sometimes debatable for each of the Three Kings, there is no doubts that the 10 musicians accompaining Bonamassa on stage put their very best effort and craftmanship to please the crowd in this very special night of music.
The show is divided in three different segments of six songs each, starting with Freddie King, continuing to Albert King and concluding with Bonamassa's most favourite Blues Guitar Hero B.B. King. Out of the whole setlist, there are some serious highlights and occasional little disappointments, mostly due to a bit too much over-arrangements on some of the tracks perforrmed.
Sittin' On The Boat Dock is one of those tunes that should have given more justice and retribution to Freddie King's talent, at the time the song was released and it is great to see Bonamassa paying respect to this music jewel by performing a splendid version of this great song at this show. Albert King's Breaking Up Somebody's Home and Angel Of Mercy are, though, the real stand out tracks of the entire show, with the latter especially played with such intensity and passion by the American guitarist, something that Bonamassa has reserved just to defining moments of his live activity, like the 2009's Royal Albert Hall concert, for example.
As one would expect, Bonamassa leaves the B.B. King section for last, with some highs and lows. While Hummingbird's arrangement is a little bit too overstretched, on the other end Nobody Loves Me But My Mother, one of Bonamassa's most favourite B.B. King songs, is pitch perfect and shows, once again, the reason why the blues genre and Bonamassa's talent are a match made in heaven.
The encore includes three songs, one for each of The Three Kings, in which the instrumental Freddie King's Hide Away is the perfect platform to showcase, once again, Bonamassa's majesty on guitar.
Live At The Greek Theatre is a highly entertaining show but we already knew very well Joe Bonamassa's stature as a performer or his artistry as a guitarist, prior to this new release. The American guitarist seems to be able to express his very best, artistically speaking, particularly when he feels a song close to his heart and soul, a little like he does on Angel Of Mercy, as previously stated and that is the Bonamassa that so many music fans love and respect.
Bonamassa has showed on this album, once again, that when it comes to put up a sumptuous live show, very few are able to do so as well as it does in nowaday's music business and credit to him for doing always a lot for the blues and the survival of the genre. Now it's time for the Guitar Maestro to concentrate his attention on following up his latest studio album, Blues Of Desperation and write again his own masterpieces, like he did on albums like You And Me, The Ballad Of John Henry or Black Rock, for example. Because we are sure that Bonamassa has got still plenty left to gift the fans with, as a songwriter. Until then, let's enjoy his personal homage to The Three Kings through the beautiful Greek Theatre show.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Live At The Greek Theatre is due to be released on 23rd September 2016 and it is available via Mascot Label Group/Provogue
"Buy a record, support the artists, preserve the future of music"
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Every time Muddy Waters chose to take an artist under his protective wing, his choice was never dictated by chance but by an immediate gut feeling for pure talent. The twenty years-old from Queens, New York that he chose back in the days, has come a long way. Mike Markowitz, aka Little Mike, has not only perfectly assimilated the lesson of his all-time idols, such as John Lee Hooker and Pinetop Perkins, to name a few but also had the privilege of playing with them.
Through the musical path that led him to play with the cream of the blues and blues/rock worldwide and to become one of the most loved and respected multi-instrumentalist blues in the whole blues scene, since the mid-eighties Little Mike has been one of the greatest torchbearers of the genre, along with his own band, The Tornadoes. The American artist has been carrying religiously the traditions of the American blues, thanks to his immense talent and a deep understanding of the roots of the genre, incorporating in his own music formula the sound of the Delta Blues, the big-band and foot-stomping sound of the Chicago Blues and even the more contemporary New York style.
How Long ?, Little Mike's new solo album, is the perfect reflection of what Markowitz loves musically the most: an insane passion for blues united to the greatest respect for those blues masters which have inspired him professionally and personally. The album is a true homage to blues, although it als offers, at times, interesting insights about Little Mike's universal love for music through different sonic elements embroided in his style and in his songs.
When it comes to play harmonica or piano, everybody knows that Little Mike is a real phenomenon but often many forget how much of an excellent singer the American artist is too. On thie latter, his great skills as a vocalist can be fully admired in tracks like When My Baby Left, Eddie Taylor's cover Bad Boy and the song that closes the album, Sittin 'Here Baby, the definite proof that we face a true artist in many respects.
How Long? gives many moments of high artistic level, together with those already mentioned above. The class of the New York born and raised bluesman emerges repeatedly on both the instrumental Cotton Mouth and Sam's Blues, where his superb harmonica playing dictates the music tempos to the talented musicians that have accompanied him in the studio for this album. Smokin 'is perhaps the song that symbolizes the most Little Mike's charisma, with the artist tailoring a wonderful blues uptempo, built with his favourite instruments, harmonica and piano in a rousing and highly entertaining tune.
One of the most beautiful surprises of the album is the song Not What Mama Planned, a track that incorporates shades of blues, jazz, funk and even tinges of Southern Rock. Whatcha' Gonna Do also offers a different angle of Little Mike's vast music background, by carrying throughout the song a beautiful, harmonius and solid R&B sonic carpet. Two songs which are true testimony of the musical impact that artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray, with which Little Mike has performed with throughout his career, have also given to the rich and eclectic sound of this very talented artist.
How Long? is a record that entertains, captivates, surprises and moves at the same time. The album is a timeless journey in the traditions and history of the blues, performed by an artist at the peak of his career and able to understand the artistic importance and the social impact that a genre like blues gave and still gives to all the music coming from every part of the planet. How Long? is more than a record, it is food for soul because written, played and sang by the soul of a true bluesman.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
How Long? is out now and it is available via Amazon and ELROB Records.
"Buy a record, support the artists, preserve the future of music"
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In an ideal musical encyclopedia, it becomes an impossible task to place Todd Rundgren in a specific category. Multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer/songwriter, sound engineer and, most of all, a great music experimentalist, the Pennsylvania-born artist has written among the most inspired musical pages of the last half a century of music history.
Recorded at The Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, Pennsylvania, Rundgren's new live album is the one that better paints the most faithful portrait of one of the most original artists ever. This live concert, recorded at the end of 2015, incorporates the highlights and, at the same time, some of the less known songs of Rundgren's incredible career.
Despite a slightly shaky start on I Saw The LIght, one of his most famous hits, Todd Rundgren and his band lead the crowd through a whirling and enthralling setlist, combining the most glorious moments of Rundgren's solo career with many songs not played by the American artist for a very long time, belonging to his 70's music projects Nazz and the prog-rock orientated one called Utopia.
What really impresses about Rundgren's performance on this live album is, at this time of his life and career, the capacity of combining a hugely inspired and eclectic songwritng with a truly unique interpretation of his songs, through his voice able to carve a song in the same way a sculptor does with one of his most precious works.
It's incredibly difficult to pick highlights in a stellar performance like this that combine Philadelphia Soul, Funk, Rock and even Ska. Thankfully, Rundgren dig so much deep in his vast music catalogue and gifts the Ridgefield crowd with a stellar version of Lost Horizon, a splendid soul tune from the 1985's album A Cappella. Rundgren's interpretation is certainly one of the best he has ever done in a live format of this song. Buffalo Grass, Kiddie Boy and Drive are epic rock and roll music lashes, in which Rundgren reminds us once again how talented he is as well as a guitar player.
Bang The Drum All Day, another of Rundgren's pinnacles of his great music career, is pure joy to listen to, with that catchy ska tempo that brings the whole Ridgefield Playhouse to a total crowd partecipation. Love Science, available only on the DVD that comes together with the CD, transports the crowd in a funk universe through a stunning rendition of a song that shows once again Rundgren's great ability to evolve himself as a musician. Ability combined with an incredible understanding of music at 360 degrees that very few artists in their lifetime have been able to match.
An Evening With Todd Rundgren - Live At The Ridgefield is certainly, among the many live albums that Rundgren has released in his fabulous career, the one that shows the most the talent, artistic honesty and versatility of this American artist. At the respectable age of 68, his energy and passion for music are highly infectious and admirable at the same time. Rundgren is an unstoppable music machine and a highly meticolous connoisseur of any music genres. As he sings in another of his most famous hits and closing track of this live album, One World, "... Down here in the street, we got it under control...". Judging by this fabulous performance, there is no doubts that he still has got it all under control.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
An Evening With Todd Rundgren, Live At The Ridgefield is out now and can be purchased here
"Buy a record, support the artists, preserve the future of music"
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Sometimes artists have to pursue their dreams a little bit harder than the normal, especially in a tough world like music business. Brigitte Rios Purdy is a young American singer and songwriter that has been known for some times in the American music scene as one of the finest Blues and R&B performers of the country.
The self-produced debut EP from Rios Purdy is a musical box full of unexpected jewels, in which the American artist showcases extraordinary vocal skills and an impressive versatility in the six tracks (5 original and 1 cover) present in the album.
Rios Purdy released, back few months ago, her debut single called Lucille, Don't You Weep, a song with clear references to B.B. King signature guitar. This blues ballad exalts many aspects of the singer's capacity to move flawlessly through different tonalities within the song, thanks to her unique voice. A voice that shines, on this occasion, at its best for style and execution and it is certainly one of the highlights of the EP.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
When Bluebird Reviews heard that somebody of the talent of Bedwyr Morgan was finally releasing his first solo material after almost 30 years spent On The Road with the iconic Welsh band MOjO, there was a lot of curiosity and excitement about it.
Morgan is an artist that, throughout the years, has always shown signs of great craftmanship, either from a songwriting point of view and as a singer and a guitarist too. His first self-titled solo effort is a mini EP containing 4 original tracks, 3 of which sang in Welsh language, the same tracks sang also in English version, plus a truly beautiful instrumental for a grand total of 7 songs.
The Welsh artist, despite the short length of the album, shows in full his potential through a blend of soft-rock that carries echoes of traditional Celtic music and the sound of 80's America's West Coast. The opener Ti Yw'r un (You Are The One) is an excellently crafted radio-friendly tune, on which Morgan skillfully builds great choruses to support a melody that could easily come out from the songbook of artists of the level of Chris Rea, just to make an example.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Whenever you get to hear a band like the Belgian collective The Bluesbones, even though you are not a blues or a blues/rock fan, you cannot avoid to fall in love with their music recipe. Following their self-released 2015 studio album Saved By The Blues, the Belgian quintet returns with their second live album, simply called Double Live, recorded in front of an audience in Mechelen, Belgium at the Hyperstudio.
For any artists, performing on a stage is certainly the most congenial element to express their art and The Bluesbones, on their new release, manage successfully to crack a fabulous live set, full of musical fireworks.
What amazes the most, about The Bluesbones and their style, is the capacity of incorporating many different music genres in only one track and still making that track to sound like you are listening to a blues song but with one or many twists. The way they dazzle effortlessly in this live album, adding to their blues roots the sound of the Mississippi Delta (Moonshine), the 50's Rockabilly (Riding Out), Funk (Broken Down Car, No Good For Me) or Jazz-Rock (Devil's Bride) is truly remarkable.
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- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
When it comes to create new musical emispheres, very few artists in the world are capable to do a better job then Gov't Mule. Back few years ago, while Warren Haynes, guitarist extraordinaire and Mule's frontman was digging into the vast music archive of the band, he stumbled by accident into the first ever demo sessions recorded by himself, Allen Woody on bass and Matt Abts on drums at The Tel-Star Studios back in June 1994 during the band's early days.
Haynes thought that the sessions recorded back then sounded so fresh and contemporary and that it was finally the time to release them to the world. A very smart decision from the Mule's main man.
The 10 tracks included in the Tel-Star Sessions offer so many interesting aspects about the way that the Gov't Mule have evolved sonically, through the years. There are so many different influences in the sound of the band, influences that vary from a 90's rock, almost grung-esque style, noticeable in a song like World Of Difference or the catchy Blind Man In The Dark to more blues-rock territories very close to the heart of the Mule's sound, like in the song Rocking Horse.
