(Instrumental Rock (Heavy/Fusion/Hard Rock) VA - Rewired: A Tribute To Jeff Beck - 2003, APE (image+.cue) lossless

author: MJ Brady (Proggnosis)
Having been a Jeff Beck fan from way back (anyone remember the Yardbirds?), I have followed his music from that point on, and found that the era of his music I liked best, were the fusion years, a time when he was taking the rock guitar to the next level. Granted McLaughin had been doing this for a while, but John was coming from a jazz background and fusing rock with jazz, whereas, Jeff Beck was taking it from the other angle. His Blow By Blow, Wired, There and Back, and Live with the Jan Hammer Group, spent many a long rides on both my and my friends turntables. Here on this tribute, like on many tribute recordings, some well-known and not so well-known musicians tackle the vibe that Beck created back in the seventies, doing some faithful renditions of his classic tunes from this same era, and some surprise mutations of his music as well. This cd serves as not only a tribute to Beck and his legend, but also serves as an opportunity to get exposed to some major talent that has perhaps gone unheard by the fans of such music. There are some guitarists on this cd, who have some outstanding solo recordings to their credit, which are just waiting to be heard, I am sure that fans of great instrumental music will enjoy this cd, as well as the talents of those involved. Some of the musicians that I am well aquainted with are: Martone, Dave Martone that is, he does a great acoustical/electric version of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, the Mingus tune Beck did on his Wired album. Martone has a few outstanding cds to his credit and plays highly progressive music, his solo material is reviewed here at Proggnosis. Carl Roa - fronts the maniacal Magic Elf band, who have often been compared with Steve Morse and The Dregs. Carl is a great musician and does a nice standard rendition of "You Know What I Mean". His Magic Elf is also reviewed here at the site. Jon finn, has the reputation as a great guitarist, having served as an instructor at the well-known Berklee School of Music, he has a couple of his cds reviewed here, and does a nice job doing the slide for the vintage Beck tune - Definitely Maybe. Prashant Aswani and Greg Howe, tear up the song "Led Boots", sounding like Beck/Hammer and Walden all over again, but with a few extra cups of expresso. As stated earlier, this is a very entertaining cd, with some very memorable remakes of these all to familiar tunes, if you love Beck, and appreciate what an influence he has had on a ton of guitarists, RE-WIRED will offer you a look at some of the great talent that he has affected.

Rewired: A Tribute To Jeff Beck is an electrifying instrumental tribute to one of the rock worlds most innovative and influential musicians from the past 30 years. This collection features renowned artists such as Greg Howe (who gained fame for his releases through Shrapnel Records and Tone Center Records, as well as touring stints with Michael Jackson, Enrique Iglesias and N' Sync), Jon Finn (former Legato Records artist and performer with the Boston Pops, for which he received a Grammy Nomination), Prashant Aswani (known for his work with Greg Howe, Darrel Diaz, Herbie Hancock and Justin Timberlake), Carl Roa (from the cult fusion band Magic Elf), Dave Martone (Lion Music artist), Rob Balducci (Favored Nations artist) and others.