Blues guitar ace Joe Bonamassa cannot be accused of being one-dimensional. He has recorded acoustic albums before, but an appearance at Carnegie Hall was clearly something momentous. Recorded over two nights in January 2016, Joe is backed by a nine-piece band, including the astonishing Tina Guo on cello and erhu (spiked fiddle), Hossam Ramzy on percussion, and three Australian backing vocalists in addition to more expected protagonists such as Reese Wynans on piano, Anton Fig on drums and Eric Bazilian on guitar, mandolin, hurdy-gurdy and sax.

Joe tackles some of his old songs in new ways though the majority are from recent releases. Highlights —there are many — include the strongly gospel-inflected cover of Blind Alfred Reed's 'How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live' and 'Woke Up Dreaming', though each listener will find their own.

Many tracks have an attractive, loose but, clearly, well-rehearsed feel —the songs stand up well enough on CD, but the visuals are far more than stock camera angles and concert footage, and the band is certainly eye-catching (the bonus DVD is more than worthwhile, too). The result is a wonderfully professional film. Certainly not a blues-rock set, nor a guitar fest as such, but a real treat nonetheless.