Interview

Hi Pete, how are you doing?

Hmm...just on YouTube hearing a youth brass band playing Zappa's Zomby Woof...

A cool find! Trust you...

Just to mention, Glenn and I were at the Hampton Court Palace show.

Oh yeah! A few weeks back, by the river...that's good. I liked that setting.

Without BS, that was the best show we have seen you do.

Thanks man! I can tell you the band has really been on fire the last few months... well, the last year to be fair to them.

It's not as if you'll find better players anywhere, but to gel on this new material the way they do...and we know that's what you're known for. Now, this Redemption record, I thought the subtitle should be Stronger Now In Broken Places, one of the songs. The song titles do read like Johnny Cash numbers!

(Ponders) Yes, you could say that...

Is there anything in particular that has prompted the content of the record? It's markedly different from your older releases.

Well, y'know every now and again my fans let me set the re-set button every ten years or so and do fresh things amongst the material. So, this and Blues Of Desperation, they do kind of trigger the re-set. Revitalising the catalogue as it grows and just going in slightly different directions here and there. I find that as long as every few minutes on each record I let myself have a vehicle for some guitar playing in an expressive vein, let's say, over blues-rock changes then everybody is cool with it.

You can't turn your back on what made you popular, but you can explore the songwriting side.

What made me popular?

Yes, the guitar skills and the way you throw yourself into what you do.

Yeah, yeah, I would agree with that.

When asked what you are like and what you're about, I do say Joe doesn't do half-hearted.

Exactly! It works when you put your all into what you are doing. You do it, you gotta do it all the way. Otherwise, why bother?

The crowd know if you're wood-shedding, anyway. Let's talk about some songs, Joe, if we can. Evil Mama has this great stomping drum intro. There seems to be a strong Tower Of Power tinge to the song.

Well Lee Thornburg our trumpet player, he was in Tower of Power for over ten years, so if we opt to give him that groove in that song, there in particular...there's very few grooves that over time we haven't experimented with, as a unit. But one was that What Is Hip active rhythm. It's difficult to write songs of that style straight out, it takes some thought, some mapping. Evil Mama kinda felt right in the sense of it all, to do the song that way, that dynamic. When we were originally recording that one, we were in half-time. I said let's drive it up, we did, it turned out great!

I used to do their song 'Only So Much Oil In The Ground'...very prophetic! Way ahead of its time.

(Enthused) Oh! The band were way ahead of their time! Them, The Average White Band, all those magical horn bands.

I also liked Mandrill, their scope was global, kind of before World Music as it's known now...King Bee Shakedown, I really like this! That boogie sound — and the first time I sensed a Rory Gallagher kind of lick happening in there, in your music.

Ha! The downwards run...when you record with a band that does a hundred and ten shows a year you can capture the feel pretty quickly.

The backing vocals are superb.

Yeah. Mahalia, and Juanita. It's symbiotic, it's a proper band. Not just a bunch of session musicians doing a job.

Molly O — almost sounds like a Black Country Communion job. The dynamic.

I do write differently for BCC, just naturally, it's not premeditated in any sense. It could have been on the last Communion record really, yes. I had 'Song Of Yesterday' on that and that mood.

I was thinking that Glenn Hughes would like this one and the arrangement.

Yes, I think he would...he's doing so well at present, really kicking ass...he's got that Deep Purple thing happening. I have not seen the man happier in the ten years that I have known him.

The vocal arrangements that you've come up with for 'Deep In The Blues Again'. Just fabulous! The song for me is sort of Bob Seger-ish.

Yeah, a little bit. So again, that's Mahalia Barnes along with Jade, Juanita...they really groove together, as you say.

'Self Inflicted Wounds' – sounds like your most eerie song since maybe 'Dust Bowl'. I think it's the best vocal on the record. I love the space in this track, no filling space for the sake of it.

We were down in Havana. It was just one of those songs...y'know, I think everyone in their life has a moment when they have to ponder their role, their actions in their fate. I wanted to just address that concept.

That Johnny Cash vibe, this is where it seems to come through, if you hear him singing 'Hurt'...it's that 'Man In The Mirror' point.

You do have to look at yourself, I think that's one of the better songs I have been involved with, in a long time. That's maybe the best song, for me.

I like the contrast with the old timey jazzy atmosphere on 'Pick Up The Pieces' it sits well at that point in the sequencing.

(Laughs) That's sorbet! You have to give em sorbet...

I was expecting Dr John to start singing!

Yeah, it's a touch of Tom Waits, too - I think Reese really shines on that, on the piano.

A quick aside, how is the Wynans own album progressing?

It's almost done, I gotta finish it this month. Each song is already mixed, and I think its killer, it's a great record. He's very proud of it.

I'm looking forward to that.

All I will say is that it's NOT what you might expect out of a solo keyboard player's record!

The braver people are, the more I like it, you know how I am. What's this Albert King thing on 'Just Cos You Can'?

Oh, I wanted to write an Albert kinda song! I did two versions of it at the first rehearsal and the first one had more Albert stuff going on, like the Three Kings tribute sound I tapped in to. And the second time we did it, it changed gear a tad and there was more shredding happening over the end.

It sounds like it was from the AK session for Cadillac Assembly Line.

Yes! that early 70s sound, very funky! I always loved that Albert King, Get Funky album.

With the smoke, I know it... 'Redemption' itself, it's quite a twilight sound isn't it? Very desolate, but also a bass register adventure.

(Sighs) Now there I was writing with Dion, of all people!

Di Mucci? Great bluesman!

It was great to collaborate with Dion and James House, we have done a bit of writing together over time, it's turned out pretty honest

A very striking song and I think that's going to become quite a concert favourite. Now the song that really got to me was 'Stronger Now In Broken Places'. To me, it's like a dream. I know there's an optimistic twist to it, where was your head when you wrote that?

I wrote it with Gary Nicholson and he had this great lyric lying around, so we recorded that a few ways, just to see. It was recorded with the electric band but ended up working somewhat better as an acoustic song. We were going really for the 'Tears In Heaven' kinda treatment. I think ultimately that approach showcases the song better than in alternative settings.

It is quite a delicate song, you could over-sing it if you weren't careful.

Exactly, exactly.

So, on this record I was never sure what might be coming next, which is what I want from a record, it's too easy to give your following what they already like, but you fight against that.

I do want to run against doing the obvious all the time, yes. There are fans who just want another burst of Blues Deluxe and I'm OK with that, but these days, Pete - I'd rather have a catalogue of songs where people say 'I didn't know you wrote this, I didn't know you wrote that, to concentrate on songs but also give people the playing they enjoy hearing, as well... think of the artists you really respect, Rory Gallagher, Hendrix, it's that catalogue of songs that to me is what separates artists.

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Album Review

Joe Bonamassa

Redemption

A new studio album from the guitar guy, following the performance of some of the new material in recent UK shows by Joe and his sharp band. Production is again in the hands of Kevin Shirley. What strikes the listener most, however, is the step-up in compositional quality. We know the playing, singing and mix will be top notch but it's the songs that encourage repeat plays. The song titles here are redolent of Johnny Cash. Kick-off cut 'Evil Mama' has a stomping drum intro and ominous band sound, the lyric on the theme of treachery. The impact of the relentless bass, spiky guitar and Tower Of Power style horn stabs, bringing the number home. On to the lively 'King Bee Shakedown' which is a brisk boogie, a grittier vocal and a major contribution from the other vocalists. The tumbling Rory G lick is easy to spot! Sea sounds start 'Molly O’ which is very much Zep/BCC and would make a fine duet with Beth Hart. The fat ensemble sound of 'Deep In The Blues Again', put me in mind of Bob Seger. A lot of work on the vocal arrangement has really paid off here. Those keen on Joe's eerier stylings are going to love 'Self-Inflicted Wounds' and in this vein it's maybe the best since 'Dust Bowl', still a popular show inclusion. I like the space, and the vocal might be the best in this programme. 'Pick Up The Pieces' shows an old timey jazz vibe, you almost expect Dr John to start singing! It's a good inclusion, for the album's balance. The airy sound of 'The Ghost of Macon Jones' is part of a story told and doesn't take anything from the pace, This is fresh territory, with slide embellishment. 'Just Cos You Can Don't Mean You Should' gives me a picture of Joe with a Flying V, so Albert King is the setting. Title track 'Redemption' has a twilight sound with a bass register adventure. 'I've Got Some Mind Over What Matters' puts over an edgy ambience and is the closest Bonamassa has been to Taj Mahal. I love this and it's still very JB in attack. 'Stronger Now In Broken Places' — how Johnny Cash is that? — it has delicate acoustic guitar on a reflective outing, with a sad dream vibe that stays with you. The saloon bar workout of 'Love Is A Gamble' has the axe nodding to Buddy Guy and some stirring piano. Aware of his influences, Bonamassa is sounding more and more his own man.

Pete Sargeant