(Rock, fusion) Jeff Beck - Live at the B.B. King Blues Club - 2003, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Leave it to Jeff Beck to make a brand new recording available only online within six months of his last studio release. Live is an erratic but nevertheless brilliant piece of work by an erratic and brilliant artist.

Recorded last September at BB King's House of Blues in New York, this CD constitutes a reunion of Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop trio. Playing with keyboardist Tony Hymas and drumming monster Terry Bozzio, the iconoclastic British guitar icon revisits, albeit somewhat tentatively, old favorites from his pioneering fusion days past, as well as selections from his most recent recordings, shorn for the most part, of their techno trappings. The highlights are the one of a kind cuts "People Get Ready" and "A Day in the Life," that a master interpretive artist ultimately makes the most of-and that's exactly what Beck does.

It takes a while to get there though. This sixty-minute plus recording contains sixteen tracks, most in the 4-5 minute length range, and Beck sounds: a) tentative b)bored on tunes like "Freeway Jam" and "Scatterbrain," both originally recorded on his breakthrough instrumental album Blow by Blow. He hits the notes of both themes and solos at an angle, as if he didn't care to produce resounding impact or is too tired of the tunes to care; oddly, his diffidence makes them all the more listenable, adding en element of suspense to the performance that's definitely preferable to a note-perfect renditions shorn of all emotional investment.

In the slightly contrary fashion that marked so much of Beck's career, the disc picks up speed by shifting gears via slowing down (appropriate since Beck's a hot rod fanatic) with ballads. The stinging bittersweet flavor of "Nadia" carries over into "Season" with a similar poignant pulse, while "Angel(Footsteps)" is haunting in a way such intense sound rarely is: the power in Beck's playing is undeniable, even when he plays in a comparatively understated (for him) approach and to hear him accomplish such atmospheric results from the stage is testament to his genius.

No more so than the way he takes Lennon/McCartney's famous climax to Sgt Pepper and turns it to his own ends. Originally recorded as a tribute to producer George Martin, who produced both the Beatles and Beck, Beck brings out the duality of the tune and injects the famous coda with all the ominous overtones the authors' ever intended. Likewise, Beck brings a deeply soulful, almost religious feel to "People Get Ready," the Curtis Mayfield tune Beck originally recorded with erstwhile vocalist Rod Stewart; Beck elicits the yearning as well as the redemptive qualities from the song in their respective glory.

There's a deeper blues tint to that track than in "Brush with the Blues" itself, but the gospel feel is such that it's almost surprising, given the fanatic response Beck receives throughout the rest of this performance, that the crowd did not start singing along. Perhaps they didn't dare intrude any more than Hymas, who stays respectfully in the back ground, alternately echoing guitar riffs with synthesizers and sprinkling in little piano parts(not mention the bass), while Bozzio nearly challenges Beck at some points-hear "Savoy," recalling the great Elvin Jones/John Coltrane drum duets.

If that sounds like hyperbole, take a couple listens to this CD and see if you're not at least somewhat amazed at the sound of this music—even without much production, it is gigantic—and the technique of the guitar player at the center of it.

[code][/code]

3800764116 31592108 01 - Roy's Toy.wav
1014595618 45612380 02 - Psycho Sam.wav
2565139581 47268188 03 - Big Block.wav
2112263416 50615084 04 - Freeway Jam.wav
4087435324 48305420 05 - Brush With The Blues.wav
3044933829 39102044 06 - Scatterbrain.wav
3742965033 43676684 07 - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.wav
2876789025 38742188 08 - Nadia.wav
3986384050 38372924 09 - Savoy.wav
2081529012 43942460 10 - Angel (Footsteps).wav
3540191197 33214988 11 - Seasons.wav
3821595538 25655660 12 - Where Were You.wav
1445427813 39894668 13 - You Never Know.wav
3024870056 54397100 14 - A Day In The Life.wav
2871560014 47334044 15 - People Get Ready.wav
637687762 52320284 16 - My Thing.wav

auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright (c) 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.
------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [01 - Roy's Toy.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [02 - Psycho Sam.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [03 - Big Block.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [04 - Freeway Jam.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 99%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [05 - Brush With The Blues.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [06 - Scatterbrain.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [07 - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [08 - Nadia.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [09 - Savoy.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [10 - Angel (Footsteps).wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [11 - Seasons.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [12 - Where Were You.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [13 - You Never Know.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [14 - A Day In The Life.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [15 - People Get Ready.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Processing file: [16 - My Thing.wav]

------------------------------------------------------------
This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%

------------------------------------------------------------
Final Conclusion:
------------------------------------------------------------
These tracks looks like CDDA with probability 100%