Posts Tagged ‘Oklahoma City’

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.

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

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 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.

BX3 and Me

2007 was an eventful year for 79th Street Sound Stage. I had an opportunity to book acts in a small club and one of the many acts I had that year was BX3 which included Stu Hamm, Jeff Berlin, and Billy Sheehan. These three guys are on a lot of people’s lists of top 10 bass players but what made that show even better was the following night I had Robben Ford along with his long time Bassist Roscoe Beck the following night. Roscoe is on my list of all time bass players.

A few months later Joe Bonamassa celebrated his 30th birthday at the club and he had recently added Carmine Rojas to his line up.  Carmine first came to my attention as David Bowie’s bass player on the Let’s Dance album and then followed him through he days with Rod Stewart.

2011 will add two more bassists to my been there done that list that would be included in the top ten bassist’s list of most people. Victor Wooten and Stanley Clarke. Appearing this March 9th at the Bricktown Events Center for a special co-bill featuring both bassists with their own bands. Should be interesting mix of Jazz and Fusion.

Walter Trout

July 22nd, 2010

Oklahoma City Limits

Tickets

About Walter Trout -

“People ask me if they should call my music blues or rock, I tell them they can call it ‘Fred’ if they must have a label.”

That remark, along with the exclamation that “the blues shouldn’t be a museum… the music ought to constantly expand and be alive,” have been expressed again and again by Walter Trout during his 35+ year career. With the release of FULL CIRCLE, the statements hold true as Trout and his musical friends demonstrate their appreciation of all shades of the blues genre. The album reflects Walter Trout’s remarkable story, from his humble beginnings as a sideman in many a blues legends’ band through his rising solo star, arriving as one of blues music’s beloved interpreters. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bonamassa OKC March 26th Civic Center Music Hall

March 26, 2010 Civic Center Music Hall

Tickets on sale now click for link

Joe Bonamassa will return to Oklahoma City March 26^th, 2010 Currently touring in support of his Live at the Royal Albert Hall DVD this fall he will be touring this Spring in support of his newest studio effort currently set to be release in April of next year.

You can also contact the Civic Center Music Hall box at 405-297-2264 201 N Walker Ave. Loggia Box seating is only available by contacting them directly. Tickets obtained through the Civic Center Box Office have a reduced service charge.

You may also call 1-800-364-7111 to purchase tickets over the phone 24 hours a day.

A student ticket offer has just been announced. 18 and under or college students with ID are eligible to purchase half price tickets at the Civic Center Box Office limit 2 per student.

Seating Chart

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