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Jeff Beck "performing this week" OMG

I know I just finished listening to this disc. I know that sometimes music doesn't always hold up after repeated listenings. I also know that this disc is the single best guitar performance I have heard maybe ever. Last night I had just finished listening to Santanas " song of the wind" and was wondering what had become of this level of virtuosity in todays music. I put on "perform this week" which I had bought on a whim and was dumbstruck. Many years ago I was a big Jeff Beck fan but had lost some interest as I felt he was stuck in a fusion time capsule. He was terrific on Claptons crossroads ( he's always been a great blues player) and his manic depression on a Hendrix tribute was fantastic so I bought the disc hoping to not be too dissapointed. Never EVER have I heard such beauty and virtuosity at the same time. I've seen a clean SRV in concert. I saw Return to Forever back in the day. I've seen Albert King, BB king, Mclaughlin/Dimeola/Delucia, John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Santana, Buddy Guy and a hundred others that don't come to mind just now. This is a supreme performance of jazz, rock, blues even reggae. Listening to this reminds me of the story of Sonny Rollins listening to john Coltranes "Giant Steps" and retiring for two years. It was just too mind blowing. The band and the recording quality are likewise topnotch. I know this is way over the top but to me at least it's that good. Check it out. - Jim
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abucktwoeighty's avatar
abucktwoeighty
1,079 posts
 
Wasn't the recent Paladia performance entitled "Jeff Beck Live at Ronnie Scotts"? I caught part of it ,as well. Saw Heap, but only caught the tail end of Clapton. I hadn't listened to Beck in a long time, but this performance opened my eyes. He's in a league of his own.
bongofury
1,160 posts
 
I had the great experience of working with SRV on his last album and have seen Clapton and Page live many different occasions. With that said, I am very enamoured by the Blu Ray version of this and how the sound just shimmers through out the performance. I can't think of another guitarist who can coax so many sounds out of a VOX and Strat using a simple playing techniques and the instrument assumes almost a "vocal" like presence. I especially like his interpretations of Nadia and Day in the Life.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Bongofury,

Funny you should say that - I liked Beck's work when he is not so busy too. He has great timing and I felt that the less aggressive numbers they played at Ronnie Scott's showed his real skills. Like the drummer who plays incredible polyrhthms at jaw dropping speeds...so what....somehow I appreciate at lot more the drummer who can simply sit in the pocket and enhance the experience with great grooves...as Pee Wee Willis remarked once about funk music - "it is more about what you DON'T play than what you do play."
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aldavis OP
202 posts
 
Ditto Bongofury. Nadia is my favorite cut followed by Cause we've ended as lovers followed by Angel ( an almost classical music composition). J.B. was always known for his tone and for his phrasing. Over time he worked more and more on his velocity which while extremely impressive forgoes his absolutely beautiful use of space. Like all great art I think that ultimate achievement is found through subtle means and more often than not by implication. Louis Armstrong was a master of that and while he could play with great velocity he always loved a great melody. That said Scatterbrain is still awe inspiring and Big Block is still bad *ss nasty guitar virtuosity. - Jim
bongofury
1,160 posts
 
Shadorne and Aldavis

I am related to "Big Dom" Mumolo, who just passed away this week at 91 in Rancho Palo Verdes, CA. One of the best session alto sax players in his day, played with everyone from the Ella, Duke, Frank, Dino, Sammy, and Nat (was on "Unforgettable"), both in the studio and television. Really incredible player, and played up to the day he died (had 12 students and retired from touring at 89).

My last conversation with him was a two hour stretch two weeks ago, where he talked at length about all the Jazz Orchestra arrangements he had worked on and how they had to "one take" everything back in the day, so you literally had to sheet read and produce over any genre in a moments notice. Not many musicians today could probably roll with the previous environment of rich improvisation, so I am always amazed when I come across artists like Jeff Beck who are more than one trick ponies.

There are the intangables like "in the pocket", "space", "groove" and "feel" that are so central to music that rarely get mentioned in these blog postings because very little gear can recreate this magic.
To go from Scatterbrain to Nadia on a dime and make it effortless is truly a gift.
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