Joe Bonamassa is one of the prominent blues guitarists of the 21st century. And although many music lovers still perceive him as a newcomer to the stage, about 30 years have passed since the moment when the 13-year-old boy first entered the big stage to play with BB King.
Today, Joe is an upscale guitarist, head of record company and philanthropist. The process of studio work for Joe Bonamassa does not stop almost never. The list of his latest discs includes an album recorded by a duet with blues singer Beth Hart, as well as records of two groups, of which the musician is a member at the same time.
These teams will be described in more detail below.
Black Country Company
Black Country Communion - this is the name of the group, whose two members grew up near Birmingham. This area is called the Black Country due to the numerous deposits of coal. The two natives of this land are Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham. The lovers of classical rock know the first of them by his work in the Deep Purple band in the first half of the seventies.
And Jason Bonham is the son of the legendary drummer Led Zeppelin. This musician continues the work of his father, playing drums in solo projects. He also participated in the only Led Zeppelin concert of 2007. In 2009, Joe Bonamassa with the above-mentioned musicians created the band Black Country Communion. They chose for themselves the continuation of the traditions of classical blues and hard rock.
Most of the material is written by Glenn Hughes. Due to the busy touring schedule, the Bonamassa cannot devote enough time to this.
Jazz
Another group with which Joe Bonamassa recorded the album in 2017 is the Candy Funk Party. This team was also formed in 2009 and, in addition to the hero of the article, includes three more musicians. Together they recorded three jazz albums, each of which hit the United States charts.
In the work on the 2015 disc called Groove Is King, ZZ Top lead singer Billy Gibbons took part.
At the beginning of this 2018, Joe Bonamassa added the profession of producer to his resume. He participated in recording the debut album of a keyboard player from his touring band Riesz Vainans.
This musician is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his participation in the Double Trouble band, which featured renowned blues guitarist Stevie Ray Won. Joe Bonamassa says: "This project is a gift to Riss for playing the keys for the last 50 years behind the backs of guitarists and enduring their long solos."
Biography
Joe was born in New York State. He started playing the guitar at the age of 4. His first teacher was his father, who instilled in the boy a love of blues, introducing him to the records of Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. At age 12, the musician organized his own group, which toured the states of New York and Pennsylvania, but only on weekends, when Joe and the rest of the participants were free from school.
In 1989, Bonamassa acted as the opening act for BB King, taking part in 20 concerts of the famous bluesman. Also in his teens, Joe was a member of a team called Bloodline, where, in addition to him, the sons of Miles Davis, Robbie Krieger and Bury Oakley played.
Joe Bonamassa Albums
The musician recorded 13 albums. The first of them was released in 2000 and included both original compositions and cover versions of songs from the repertoire of Rory Gallagher and Jethro Tull.
In 2002-2006, the bluesman released 3 solo albums, each of which rose to the first position in the Billboard magazine bluetooth disc charts.
In 2009, the guitarist realized his childhood dream - he played at the Royal Albert Hall in London a duet with Eric Clapton.
After some time, Joe Bonamassa went on stage with his other idol - Paul Rogers, a member of the Free and Bad Company groups. The recording of the performance was included in the artist's concert album.
Guitars
Joe Bonamassa prefers to play old instruments made in the 50-60s. He also loves rare guitars. Some of its tools exist in a single copy. On the musician’s website, you can buy scale models of his guitars and amplifiers.
New album
The disc, entitled Redemption, which was released on September 21, 2018, consists of 12 songs by Joe Bonamassa.
Working on it, the musician traditionally expanded the boundaries of his style. Along with blues compositions in the spirit of Buddy Guy and BB King, there is also a country (The ghost of Macon Jones). The track Deep in the blues again has elements of rock music of the eighties. By the refinement of the arrangement, the composition resembles the best works of The Who.
One music critic wrote that on the new album you can hear not one, but several Joe playing songs in different genres. The record is heard in one breath. Her compositions, like the turns of a fast river, follow each other.
In some previous albums, the guitarist used musical quotes from songs that became classics of the genre. On the new record, the bluesman decided not to use this technique.
The video, shot on the title track of this disc, joined the collection of clips by Joe Bonamassa.
This year also released a collection of hits of the musician. It features the best songs from all albums. These compositions can be obtained free of charge by e-mail by filling out an application on the artist’s website.
The guitarist is one of the best bluesmen of our time. The new album is another confirmation of this. Bonamassa's style is somewhat similar to what Led Zeppelin did at one time. The musician seeks to enrich the blues with elements of art rock, country and many other genres.