It’s pretty fair to say that, at one point in time, I was a colossal fan of the modern blues-rock legend, Joe Bonamassa. I fell in love with his seventh studio record The Ballad of John Henry and became enthralled with his music. I’ll never forget going to the Sheperd’s Bush Empire in London for my 21st birthday to see him live. That show was recorded for a concert DVD, so I have that day forever immortalised on film. Not a bad memory to have I must say! However, over the years I became distant from Joe’s music. For no real reason, I just seemed to lose touch with my passion for his records and stopped waiting for the releases. It’s just one of those weird things in life. Well, circumstance has returned me to the joy of listening to Mr Bonamassa. I have had a chance to catch up on his recent discography, particularly his 2021 record, Time Clocks. This record is an absolute marvel my jaw was on the floor. Everything just fits together; each riff, each solo, the tight rhythm and the beautiful soul. It all just glistens and shines in the production.
So, why did I suddenly start re-listening… Well, every now and then, Joe puts out a live album to accompany the release of the studio record. The latest one is Tales Of Time released 14th April 2023. The show itself was recorded on 8th August 2022. This has to be one of the most impressive shows he’s put to film and I am stunned by the size and scope of the production itself. Filmed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and the set list includes the entirety of the 2021 record plus some fan favourite songs added for the DVD bonus section. Not a bad selection of songs and it helps that Time Clocks is a fantastic album itself. The amount of effort put into these love shows always astounds me. When you consider all of the moving parts that go into a concert in the first place, then you have to record both audio and video and then go to work with production, editing and all of the nitty-gritty to make it sellable to the audience. It honestly makes me sit back and applaud all of those efforts.
So how does the concert play out? The show turns the record around and they play the songs out of album order. I think this mostly works to the show's advantage. It would have been pretty jarring to hear the title track “Time Clocks” right after “The Heart That Never Waits” in the concert settings. Whereas it works quite well on the album. I think the pacing of the show is pretty breezy. The set flows from one song to the next with ease, there doesn’t appear to be any pacing issues, no dead air and no rushing. It all falls into place so perfectly, as you can tell this show rehearsed time and time again. Probably until the whole band could nail it in their sleep. As Joe is known for his supreme guitar skills, you can imagine the guitar solos are great. Let me say this, they’re absolutely fantastic. Now Bonamassa is not a speed guitarist, you’re not going to hear mad-shredding or anything like that. What you will hear is clean, proficient and impressive blues riffing that will keep you invested in the song. The technique on display is not about bombarding the listener with shredding, but about keeping the song alive whilst having a moment that showcases the technical guitar skills. In that sense, all the musicians shine. From Bonamassa on lead guitar to Reese Wynans on the keyboard. It just feels like magic.
So that’s how it sounds, how does it play as a show? The Red Rocks Amphitheatre is shown in all of its glory. The camera work is fantastic showing the huge scope of the show whilst making it feel intimate for the viewer who purchases this. It feels like a complete show that you can play in your living room. The cinematography is wonderful. It captures all aspects of the show with wonderful clarity. It’s always going to feel weird watching a live show (that you didn’t go to) as you don’t have the direct comparison in your head to compare it to. I still feel like they did a great job in making the show as accessible to the viewer as possible. Getting amazing shots of the stage production, musicians and the venue as a whole.
With all that being said, I want to talk about something else. My current emotions when listening to Joe Bonamassa. In my late teens and early twenties, he was one of my biggest icons of music. As a teenager learning to play the guitar, listening to his music made me want to get better at guitar, and I did. The three-album-run of Black Rock (2010), Dust Bowl (2011) and Driving Towards The Daylight (2012) shaped how I listened to music going forward. Dust Bowl was my gold standard for blues rock for many, many years. After his record, Blues of Desperation in 2016, I just stopped paying attention to his music, nearly entirely. Again, I can’t think of the real reason for this, probably life just got away from me. After hearing this live record, I went back and listened to the albums that I had missed out on. I already talked about Time Clocks in 2021. His output has honestly been quite incredible. The fact that he can just keep putting out quality album after quality album is impressive.
He’s also taken time away from his own solo projects to persue other projects to work on. Like with hard-rock supergroup Black Country Communion, the jazz-funk project Rock Candy Funk Party and the collaboration albums with blues/soul singer Beth Hart. Honestly the output is extensive and excellent. You could say that I’ve fallen in to a bit of a proverbial rabbit-hole with all of this content and I’ve been loving all of it. Some of my particular favourite listening experiences were the albums BCCIV (Black Country Communian’s fourth album) and Black Coffee (the 2018 album with Beth Hart). It all showcases his versatility and talent to play into other styles and variations of blues, rock and soul. Another enjoyable record that Joe worked on worth mentioning is his Easy To Buy, Hard To Sell by The Sleep Eazys. An instrumental project that evoked classic blues down to it’s core.
There’s a unique aura to his playing. You can tell that he’s well-and-truly in the zone when playing. As a listener I can just sit and appreciate the emotions he instills in his music and the creativity that he is free to play around with. I’ve always appreciated his songwriting skill and talent. He has a way of mixing soulful words with purposeful guitar work. On top of that, he surrounds himself with the best producers and musicians to bring the songs to life. The songs can just leaped out of the record, from time to time I had to catch myself from getting too caught up in the poetry and beauty of the music that I was listening to.
It’s just such a magical feeling. All of this stemming from one album! I think listening to Tales of Time reignited and a love and passion that I had forgotton to a certain degree. It reminded me that there’s something to be gained from losing myself in the world of blues and soul. Ultimately it reminded me that Joe Bonamassa is one of the absolute finest that the world of music has to offer today. A musician unlike any other and a performer, a showman and an icon. To me, at least. I would definitely recommend his entire discography. Welcome back to the eternally growing playlist of this blogger Joe.
(All photo credits: Jenise Jensen)
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