Posts Tagged ‘concert’
Joe Bonamassa
Joe Bonamassa on Stage
As Joe Bonamassa grows his reputation as one of the world’s greatest guitar players, he is also evolving into a charismatic blues-rock star and singer-songwriter of stylistic depth and emotional resonance. His ability to connect with live concert audiences is transformational, and his new album, Black Rock, brings that energy to his recorded music more powerfully than ever before. The tenth solo album and eighth studio release of his career – as well as his fifth consecutive with producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes, etc.) – the disc adds an enlivening dose of ‘world’ vibes to Bonamassa’s virtuoso mix of ‘60s-era British blues-rock (à la Beck and Clapton) and roots-influenced Delta sounds.
The album was recorded at Black Rock Studios in Santorini, Greece. “With this album, we wanted to explore a ‘world’ feeling, and this was the inspiration behind going to record in Greece and using some of the best Greek musicians to add a little flavor to a couple of the tracks. But it’s by no means a ‘world’ album. We wanted Joe’s usual youthful and energetic tones to play alongside the worldly vibes of the Greek bouzouki and clarino,” said Shirley. Bonamassa adds, “It was the kind of record Kevin and I wanted to make. We needed to rock again a bit like on my first album. It’s youthful, like going back to your childhood.” Throughout, Bonamassa is again backed by the stellar players Carmine Rojas (bass), Anton Fig, Bogie Bowles (both on drums) and Rick Melick (keyboards).
2009 was a big year for Bonamassa. He was awarded the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award at the U.K.’s prestigious Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards and Classic Rock magazine has said, “They’re calling him the future of blues, but they’re wrong – Joe Bonamassa is the present; so fresh and of his time that he almost defines it.” He was also named Best Blues Guitarist in Guitar Player Magazine’s 2009 Readers’ Choice Awards for the third consecutive year. Guitar Player writer Matt Blackett has said, “He’s an old soul, and that comes through in his bends, vibrato, singing voice, and note choices, which – which each passing year – get more restrained and refined.”
In May ’09, he played to a sold out crowd at London’s Royal Albert Hall, arguably the most prestigious concert venue in the world. During the show, Bonamassa’s hero, Eric Clapton, joined him on stage for a joint-performance of Clapton’s hit “Further On Up The Road.” London’s The Independent said about the show, “The man has arrived, and there’s no turning back.” Shortly after, Bonamassa released a 2-DVD live set – Joe Bonamassa – Live From The Royal Albert Hall – which captures the night in full. Guitar Edge gave it five stars and also said, “It is the wallop of his emotional expression, fueled by the rocking energy he derives from that trans-Atlantic connection and driven by his devastating technical ability, that elevates him about his peers and makes him a certifiable blues guitar hero and the face of his blues generation.”
Last year also coincided with Bonamassa’s twentieth year as a professional musician, an extraordinary timeline for a young artist just into his ’30s. A child prodigy, Bonamassa was finessing Stevie Ray Vaughan licks when he was seven and by the time he was ten, had caught B.B. King’s ear. After first hearing him play, King said, “This kid’s potential is unbelievable. He hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface. He’s one of a kind.” By age 12, Bonamassa was opening shows for the blues icon and went on to tour with venerable acts including Buddy Guy, Foreigner, Robert Cray, Stephen Stills, Joe Cocker and Gregg Allman.
Bonamassa reunites with King for a duet on Black Rock. The song they perform together is a rendition of the Willie Nelson-penned song, “Night Life,” which appeared on King’s 1967 album Blues Is King. Shirley says about the experience, “This is a rollicking Stonesy-vibe version of the Willie Nelson song on which B.B. duets with Joe, both vocally and on his famous Lucille guitar. What a joy and an honor to work with the legend who is possibly the pivot point and unifying musician between blues and rock.”
Other tracks appearing on Black Rock include Jeff Beck’s “Spanish Boots,” a lively version of Leonard Cohen’s poetic “Bird On A Wire,” Otis Rush’s “Three Times A Fool,” as well as Bobby Parker’s “Steal Your Heart Away,” a song recommended by Robert Plant, who said Led Zeppelin rehearsed it in their earliest days. Also, Blind Boy Fuller’s “Baby, You Gotta Change Your Mind,” John Hiatt’s “I Know A Place,” and James Clark’s “Look Over Yonder’s Wall,” as well as the Bonamassa-penned originals “When The Fire Hits The Sea,” “Wandering Earth,”
“Athens To Athens,” and “Blue and Evil.”
Bonamassa’s recording career began in the early ’90s with Bloodline, a hard-charging rock-blues group also featuring Robby Krieger’s son Waylon and Miles Davis’ son Erin. His 2000 solo debut, A New Day Yesterday, was produced by the legendary Tom Dowd; Bonamassa’s rendering of the title track, originally a Jethro Tull hit, was called, “a jaw-dropping performance” by allmusic.com.
His last studio album, The Ballad Of John Henry – with no shortage of its own jaw-dropping moments – debuted at #1 on the Billboard blues chart and stayed there for six months. The album marks a more confessional approach to songcraft than he’s previously employed. “Making the first half of the album,” Bonamassa says, “I was in the happiest place I’d ever been in my life. The second half found me in completely the opposite state. I’ve come to the conclusion that experience makes for better art. I had more to say, and it’s the first time I’ve personally opened up the book on my life.”
Previous studio sets include 2007’s Sloe Gin, which debuted at #1 on Billboard’s blues chart and received a 2008 nod for Album Of The Year from the Classic Rock Roll Of Honour Awards. Sloe Gin careens between heavy electric blues-rockers and acoustic, folk-etched cuts in a flow that Bonamassa says was partly inspired by Rod Stewart’s classic 1969 solo debut LP. Modern Guitars Magazine wrote, “If calling Sloe Gin a Bonamassa sampler isn’t graphic enough, think of the album as a musical buffet in which unrelated entrees share a single trait: they taste good.” The Boston Phoenix called it, “an elegant and brawny guitar-hero album.”
In 2008, he released the 2-CD set Live From Nowhere In Particular, which Guitar Player said, “finds Joe playing with soul, intensity and savage tones.” It features 13 songs recorded live in concert on the artist’s 2007 North American tour – at shows like the one at New York’s Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center reviewed for www.hamptons.com by Lon S. Cohen: “In a thousand years, when archeologists dig out Joe Bonamassa’s guitar from the strata of the earth, it will still be smoking…He holds the guitar like a shotgun but what comes out of it is poetry, color, and a story is told in notes.” A review of a show at Alexandria, VA’s Birchmere drew similar sentiments from writer Paul Roy on blogcritics.org: “I have flirted with the opinion that Bonamassa may be the overall best guitarist on the planet these days, and after seeing him perform live again…I am now totally comfortable with that opinion. He is simply mesmerizing to watch.”
Bonamassa circles the globe playing an average of 200 shows a year, and his mind-blowing guitar wizardry and electrifying stage presence are selling out progressively larger venues all the time. The OC Register’s Robert Kinsler has written, “Whether in a club or outdoors at a festival, something magnetic happens when Bonamassa steps to the front of the stage, leans his head back and simply lets loose.”
Ongoing journeyman touring is a given, and looking beyond Black Rock, Bonamassa will continue his recording collaboration with producer Kevin Shirley, who says, “It’s great working with Joe and seeing him enjoy the discovery of all these places he can go. He’s an artist who can play anything, there are so many facets to him.” Bonamassa adds, “Kevin comes up with fantastic ideas outside the box. He appreciates the blues, but pushes me, the only person besides Tom Dowd who’s done that.”
On top of touring, recording and overseeing the independent label J&R Adventures with his entrepreneurial partner and manager Roy Weisman, Bonamassa is a spokesperson for the Blues Foundation’s respected Blues In The Schools program, volunteering his time during tours to speak with groups of high school students about the heritage of blues music – the first pure American music form. Recently, he was chosen by Channel One, the largest in-school news network, to host an ongoing segment called “Know Your Roots with Joe Bonamassa” in which he traces the musical roots of Channel One’s weekly “Hear It Now” featured artist.
And, 2010 has already started with a bang – Guitar World dubbed Bonamassa “The Blues Rock Titan” and his song, “Lonesome Road Blues,” is a part of Guitar Hero V’s New Blues Masters Track Pack. Keeping with his blues roots but fluently moving between rock n’ roll and international sounds, 2010 is not only a new decade but a new era for Bonamassa.
The Mighty Orq
The Mighty Orq
Mighty ORQ - Guitars/Vocals
Terry Dry - Bass/Vocals
Matt Johnson - Drums/Vocals
For almost nine years The Mighty Orq have been playing relentlessly around the South
and Europe releasing five albums, their last two on Pepper Cake Records, and developing
a distinct, recognizable sound as well as a tremendous grassroots following. Their music is a blend of classic rock energy, Gulf Coast blues, R&B, and pop with gospel undertones that
are as unique as they are powerful.
They started out playing the local haunts in their home town of Houston in late 2002,
and over the last decade have developed into an internationally touring workhorse. Everywhere the band plays the sentiment among audiences is the same; Why arent these
guys famous?! Its something we dont think about too much because, honestly, were too
busy, says Mighty Orq, front man and guitarist for the trio.
The band just returned from their sixth European tour in May 2011 in support of their latest release, Lost In Germany. This album is something of a retrospective. It is a live recording capturing a night in Germany from 2010 at the intimate venue, Kornbrennerei. In addition there are tracks taken from an earlier live recording in 2003 at Houstons famous blues venue, The Big Easy Social & Pleasure Club. Lost In Germany offers a singular insight into groups musical evolution; from its early inception as a traditional Blues band to a more song-writing oriented, southern rock and pop sound. Along with songs from the last four albums, Lost In Germany also features four new unreleased tracks, The Possum Song, So Sad, Cold Hearted, and the Freddie King classic, Pack It Up.
Over the summer the band plans to record not one but two albums. The first will be a band effort showcasing all the new material that has been written over the last three years of non-stop traveling and performing. The second recording, sponsored by a grant from the Houston Arts Alliance, will be more in the solo vein showcasing Orqs acoustic guitar and dobro acumen. The theme for this second CD will be Houston Music highlighted with performances and songs by prominent Houston musicians both past and present.
The future is busy and bright for this talented and hard-working band from Houston. To find out about upcoming events and listen to some mighty tunes visit the band at www.MightyOrq.com.
Standing at the crossroads of Kings X, Arc Angels, and Govt. Mule, The Mighty Orqs muscular music is the sound track for driving through a rainstorm with the windows down.
- Bob Ruggerio, Houston Press
Discography:
The Mighty Orq Live: Lost In Germany - 2011
To The Bone (2008)
Milk Money (2005)
Ghost Train (2004)
Prayer Book (2002)
The Steepwater Band
Steepwater Band
After getting into the music promotion business with inspiration from my chance discovery of Joe Bonamassa in 2002. I did the music bookings for a friend of mine’s bar in Oklahoma City. I was contacted by the management of the Steepwater Band. They had a routing opportunity on their way to boarding the Give me Three Steps Cruise. I would have to say they were one of the best bands that ever stepped foot on my stage during the time I booked that room. Others that graced the Road House stage during that time besides hosting Joe Bonamassa for his 30th Birthday celebration was BX3 Stu Hamm Billy Sheehan and Jeff Berlin’s project as well as Robben Ford. Check these guys out.
the Steepwater Band’s forthcoming studio release, “CLAVA” (pronounced CLAY-va) finds the band hitting their most creative and focused point of their careers. The new record was recorded this past March on the South Side of Chicago at the studio of the same name. Also known as a trinity of stars, CLAVA is a fitting name for the new record produced by the trio along with Colin Sipos, a young, up-and-coming producer/ engineer who has worked with the critically acclaimed Iron & Wine and Califone. Sipos also recorded TSB’s “The Stars Look Tonight/My Back Pocket (2010)” single and mixed “Live at the Double Door (2010).” The ten new songs feature some of their most blues-infused, heavy and psychedelic tunes to date. Each song takes you on a musical journey, steeped in tradition, while not being overly nostalgic. On “CLAVA” the band honors their heroes and pays them the highest compliment – continuing the Rock n’ Roll lineage while creating paths not yet explored. This release exemplifies the musical trinity that is The Steepwater Band.
Stanley Clarke Grammy Win
Stanley Clarke
Grammy Winner Stanley Clarke Reflects On His Win And Two Nominations, His New Record Label And
Roxboro Entertainment Group
Jazz bass legend Stanley Clarke is thrilled to win 2011 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album with his most recent CD, The Stanley Clarke Band. He was also nominated in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance, “No Mystery.” Clarke is especially pleased because he feels that this album’s music is fresh and different from just about anything he’s done before. He realized early on in the recording process that the range of collaborative material he was creating with fellow band members would allow him to venture to new levels of experimentation utilizing his arsenal of bass instruments.
On hearing the news while in Australia on tour with his seminal group Return To Forever, Clarke stated, “I’m grateful on behalf of the whole band for this honor. It’s humbling to be in such strong company. It’s so gratifying to see that jazz and instrumental music remain such vibrant and exciting musical forms, and that we could contribute to their vitality. I’d like to thank the members of the Stanley Clarke Band: keyboardist Ruslan Sirota; drummer Ronald Bruner, Jr.; pianist Hiromi Uehara and the rest of the performers on this album. I’d also like to thank my wife Sofi, who’s been such a strong supporter of my career, and my children, who are also making their paths in the arts.”
Other players on the Grammy-winning album include vocalist Cheryl Bentyne; guitarists Charles Altura, Rob Bacon and Armand Sabal-Lecco; saxophonist Bob Sheppard; bass synthesizer Lorenzo “Larry” Dunn; keyboardist Felton Pilate; horn players Andrew Lippman and John Paperbook; and drum programmers Chris Clarke and Jon Hakakian.
The album has garnered outstanding reviews since it’s release in June 2010. J. Hayes of Examiner.com states, “Stanley Clarke makes an album of great music with this new band. This is what I believe jazz always should to be: progressive, improvisational, sophisticated music influenced by the experiences, ears, hearts and spirits of the artists
Stanley Clarke Grammy/REG Release – Page 2
making it.” Damian Erskine of Bass Musician Magazine adds, “This newest release from icon Stanley Clarke is poised to impress in every way. This may be my favorite of Stanley’s lineups. It’s got some great grooves, get’s funky as hell and shreds just enough (but not too much).”
Not one to rest on the laurels from his various pursuits as a composer, performer and recording artist of 40 albums and 60 film scores, the Fall of 2010 marked Clarke’s launch of his own record label, Roxboro Entertainment Group, named for his Philadelphia high school. This business venture includes music publishing for his own and other musicians’ work, as well as the development of various projects aimed at music education.
“When you are starting a record company, diversity plays a major role,” says Clarke. “All of Roxboro’s artists come from various locations in the world and offer remarkable cultural differences.”
Roxboro Entertainment Group, unveils its first two releases this month with guitarist Lloyd Gregory’s self-titled CD Lloyd Gregory and multi-instrumentalist Kennard Ramsey’s Somos. The next two albums on the Roxboro Entertainment Group label are scheduled later in the year. They will be the CDs of keyboardist Sunnie Paxson with Jazz Divertido and Ukrainian-born Ruslan Sirota, pianist, arranger and keyboardist, who collaborated on The Stanley Clarke Band with self-titled Ruslan.
Of the first two releases, Ramsey’s new world music inspired Somos is an exploration of various music genres. It is influenced by the arrangements and orchestrations that personified the innovation of Verve, CTI and Blue Note era recording artists. Ramsey, an eclectic and often enigmatic Los Angeles based composer/musician, presents compositions that are distinguished by his innovative use of live orchestra, synthesizer and other digital audio media, integrating contemporary music genres with traditional.
A master of both acoustic and electric guitar as well as a musical director who has played and recorded with artists as diverse as Martha Reeves and Gerald Albright, San Francisco-based Lloyd Gregory’s smooth, soulful, melodic, and flowing sound evokes unique hints of his extensive R&B roots. In Clarke’s words, “He is a sweet warm guy, which comes out in his music. His music reminds me of a modern-day Wes Montgomery.”
Clarke looks forward to developing unique avenues of exploration with the Roxboro Entertainment Group. Noting the numerous changes in the music industry from when he began forty years ago—he feels “the sky’s the limit!” Clarke’s favorite quotation, “A society is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists…,” is Roxboro Entertainment Group’s working model.
Joe Bonamassa
Joe Bonamassa on Stage
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Erin Podbereski at 626-585-9575 or erin@jensencom.com
Blues Rock Star Joe Bonamassa to Headline Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma On March 26th In Support Of His Upcoming Studio Album Black Rock, To Be Released In Early 2010.
Los Angeles, CA, December 2009: Award-winning blues rock star, guitar hero and singer-songwriter Joe Bonamassa and his ace touring band will perform in concert at the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on March 26th. The one-night-only show is in support of his upcoming album Black Rock, to be released on Bonamassa’s J&R Adventures label in early 2010. The tenth full-length solo release and eighth studio album of his career, the disc will mark Bonamassa’s sixth collaboration with Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes, Aerosmith) as producer.
2009 marked a year of milestones for Bonamassa. He kicked it off in February with the release of his ninth solo album, The Ballad of John Henry, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Charts. Nicky Horne from the UK’s Planet Rock Radio called it “a quantum leap from his previous albums, and they were damn good – if he keeps this up, he is destined to walk alongside the truly greats.”
In May 2009, he played a sold out show at London’s Royal Albert Hall, arguably the most prestigious concert venue in the world and had the added honor of being joined on stage by the legendary Eric Clapton. The Times of London cited Joe’s “searing excellence and showmanship,” and Planet Rock said, “The sight of two of the world’s best guitarists trading solos was more than a little thrilling.” Released Oct. 6, 2009 and debuting at #6 on Billboard’s DVD Chart was Joe Bonamassa – Live From The Royal Albert Hall, a 2-disc live DVD capturing the intensity and excitement of that show which Bonamassa calls “a day 20 years in the making.”
This past year also saw Bonamassa’s twentieth year as a professional musician, an extraordinary timeline for a young artist just into his ‘30s. He was named “Best Blues Guitarist” in Guitar Player’s readers’ choice poll for the third consecutive year and graced their April 2009 cover. The magazine said, “He’s an old soul, and that comes through in his bends, vibrato, singing voice, and note choices, which – with each passing year – gets more restrained and refined.”
In November ‘09, he headlined Guitar Center’s annual King of the Blues contest in Los Angeles and was awarded the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award at the U.K.’s prestigious Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards.
Bonamassa averages 200 shows every year, almost always playing to sold-out and ever-larger houses, and with each gig, he comes more into his own as a virtuoso and a vocalist. The Washington Post’s Mike Joyce cites his, “wicked guitar thrills” and British journalist Pete Feenstra wrote of a BBC Live performance, that, “he is both as eloquent and learned about the music he plays as he is technically brilliant.” Guitar icon Ted Nugent has said, “This kid deserves to be in the same class with Stevie Ray F*&cking Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck.”
A child prodigy, Bonamassa opened shows at age 12 for blues legend B.B. King, who said after first seeing him play, “This kid’s potential is unbelievable…He’s one of a kind.” Bonamassa’s recording career began in the early ’90s with Bloodlines, a rock-blues group also featuring Robby Krieger’s son Waylon and Miles Davis’ son Erin. His solo debut was in 2000 with the Tom Dowd-produced A New Day Yesterday, named for the Jethro Tull hit that Bonamassa delivers with what allmusic.com calls, “a jaw-dropping performance.”
Joe’s appearance at the Civic Center Music Hall on March 26th is the culmination of efforts by local business man turned promoter Jim Moody. Moody and Bonamassa have forged a relationship that began in 2002 in Tulsa Oklahoma. Jim Moody Route 66 Blues Project/79th Street Sound Stage happened to witness this performance and was so moved he began promoting Joe in Oklahoma. In late 2003 Joe’s first Oklahoma City show was at the Will Rogers Theatre. Since then his popularity steadily increased with an appearance in 2008 at Rose State Theatre for the Performing Arts. Jim Moody was quoted saying “I have just witnessed the next guitar legend. I haven’t experienced anything similar to this since I saw Jimmy Page in 1970 and later Stevie Ray Vaughan. Joe Bonamassa is going to influence the next generation of guitar players and change the direction modern popular music is headed. Not just a return to its blues roots but how you experience the live performance. Joe will be the high water mark that other acts will emulate and seek to replicate his ability to connect with his audience, through his emotional expression both instrumentally and vocally. ”
Tickets are $45.00 and available at the Civic Center Box Office 201 N Walker Ave. 405-297-2264 and all outlets. Also online at www.myticketoffice.com or by calling 1-800-364-7111
For more information and updated tour schedule, visit www.jbonamassa.com
Monte Montgomery
Monte Montgomery
Monte Montgomery February, 27th 8 pm
Special Guest: TBA
Named as one of “Guitar Player” magazine’s “Top 50 All-Time Greatest Guitarists” and the only artist to win the “Best Acoustic Guitar Player” at the Austin Music Awards seven years straight, Monte Montgomery is world-renowned for his dizzying fretboard wizardry. Guitar hero status aside, Montgomery is also a multi-dimensional songwriter and storyteller as well as a talented arranger and remarkably soulful vocalist. He is one of the very few living guitar gods able to synergize technical shredding with deep soul connection in his songs and performances. Austin City Limits producer Terry Lickona describes the musician perfectly, “Monte Montgomery blows people away. There is no other way to describe it.”
Site updates
This is 79th Street Soundstage’s new home on the web. While the site has been launched and is here for public consumption over the next few days we will be putting the finishing touches on the information here.
Information on upcoming concerts being promoted by 79th Street Soundstage, backline equipment rentals, and soundstage (rehearsal hall) availability is being updated continuously.
Let us know what you think about the new site by dropping us a line here —- contact us.
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