Even More Jazz Fest -- Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck. I've been wanting to see Jeff Beck live ever since I was in junior high school. Finally, I was able to see him at the Jazz Fest. John and I went along with Steve Vanier, my partner, his son, Elliot, and Luke came along, too. Steve is not just a very fine partner, he's also a musician. He and some old, old friends have a band, "Slab City", and Steve is a saxophonist, pianist, guitar player, among other talents. And he had a question. "Is what Jeff Beck plays, jazz?" Fair enough. Some might call it "fusion", but it is really just rock. But if Jackson Browne can play at the Jazz Fest, (Saturday Night), then why can't Jeff Beck. Now, Jeff Beck is all over the place. He just released an album, "Jeff Beck -- Live at Ronnie Scott's". Maureen and I saw the club, (the show was sold out that night so we didn't go in the club), in London. It is a great album.

The show was sold out. So was the next one scheduled later that evening. Sure, people filled Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts last night to see the legendary British guitarist, who had received the Montreal International Jazz Festival Guitar Show’s first Tribute award earlier in the day. And during the show, they relished every sustained note, tremolo lurch and outburst of controlled feedback from Beck’s Fender Stratocaster. There was a big six foot and more fat old man who -- after every single song -- stood up shaking his fist and yelling "YEAH MAN". It made me feel old, because I wanted to do the same thing, but John and his friend Elliot were both there.
Still, it’s hard to imagine that anyone left without expressing some amazement at the work of drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, who can be flashy and swing at the same time. Nor would it be easy to downplay the shadings and harmonies of keyboard player Jason Rebello.
But aside from the boss, the show-stealer was bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, who, at 23, has played with Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, among others. Although she’s more like a second lead guitarist, she can also shadow Beck’s lines or anchor the quartet as needed. She looked like she was a kid. Well, even Beck looked like a kid with his black hair and solid figure.
The set closely mirrored the selection on last year’s live disc from Ronnie Scott’s club. The group opened with Beck’s Bolero, as the man of the hour slid into the high registers, making his guitar squeal and scream. As the evening moved on, whether he was spraying clusters of growling low notes, as on the reggae scorcher Behind the Veil, taking the Beatles' A Day In the Life to strange and wonderful places or winding down with the lonesome Where Were You, Beck demonstrated why, in the world of rock guitar gods, he pretty much can’t be touched.

Luckily, some video was downloaded by the Montreal Gazette of the concert the boys and I attended:

Much discussion between the boys as we waited for the next show as to who the greatest guitarist was. Sadly for Steve and I when we mentioned Clapton, Hendrix, Beck, Page, Howe, McLaughlin, DiMeola, and others, the only one they had ever heard of was Jimmy Page. Oh, the staying power of Led Zepplin. We followed that gig up with one dearer to the boys' hearts: Joshua Redman, the great saxaphone player. Elliot and John are both in the band and both play the sax. More on that one, later...

The Yardbirds. On the left is Jeff Beck. The fourth from the left is Jimmy Page. With Beck, the Yardbirds embarked on their first US tour in late August, 1965. There were three more US tours during Beck's time with the group. A brief European tour took place in April, 1966.
The Beck-era Yardbirds produced a number of memorable, groundbreaking recordings, from single hits like "Heart Full of Soul", Bo Diddley's I'm a Man, and Shapes of Things, to the Yardbird's album. Beck's guitar with fuzz tone, feedback, and distortion helped revolutionize British rock. In addition, the Yardbirds began incorporating, believe it or not Gregorian chant and world music sounds ("Still I'm Sad", "Turn Into Earth", "Hot House of Omagarashid", "Farewell", "Ever Since The World Began") and various European folk styles into their blues and rock. Beck was voted #1 lead guitarist of 1966 in the British music magazine Beat Instrumental, and his work during this period influenced musicians such as Jimi Hendrix and many, many others.