Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Beth HART & Joe BONAMASSA: "Live In Amsterdam"

Rating: Live
Label: Provogue/Mascot 2014
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

It's 2014! What's the point in releasing live albums without the glossy DVD/Blu-ray? Hang on a minute. Appearantly, there's the DVD release of Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa destroying Amsterdam only we're stuck with the daft CD version? What's the point in merely sending out your minor product for review when everybody's talking about and would like to know more about the major dvd and blu-ray production? It's sort of like sending the film/movie production on tape so you can listen to the actors and simply forget about ever watching the she-bang.

The two are obviously going at the music with bags of finess and individual skill. Beth Hart is capable of singing the old R&B numbers with remarkable awareness of tradition and overall respect. If there's ever been a cool cat, simply check out her performances on 'For My Friends' and especially 'Close To My Fire'. Joe Bonamassa's flashy guitar work add a new dimension to the old numbers of Buddy Miles, Billie Holiday, Melody Gardot, Etta James, Tom Waits, and what not really. The 'Can't Let You Go' solo is sweet as candy. He's never trying to over play things or shred just for the cause of shredding. It's classy work throughout the set.

Yes, they're into old skool. It's just a straight forward tribute to the old masters and sometimes that's all you want from a band or in this case the dynamic duo. There's obviously a band too and it's nice to hear (well, I can't bloody watch, can I?) the old Spider and Ace Frehley drummer Anton Fig which many of you probably know from the David Letterman show. Not sure if it's just my promo or if all tracks are fade outs? If the latter, there's another shocker. If you came here looking for info about the dvd/blu-ray - tough luck and remember to email me if you ever find out. Bloody'ell...

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