Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Beck, Jeff
Label: Rhino Records
Release: 2010
Rating: 4.5/5
You’d be hard-pressed to find a rock guitarist who has left deeper tracks on the popular music scene than Britain’s Jeff Beck. Mr. Geoffrey Arnold Beck is at an age when plenty of musicians would have retired for sure. But he doesn’t follow his contemporaries into well-earned rest. That creative itch just won’t leave him alone. His last studio album, Jeff, from 2003, was pretty electronic and experimental, and as always it pointed to a constant search and constant change. There’s certainly no creative stagnation in the work on the new Emotion And Commotion, which once again edges toward the kind of perfection we’ve come to expect from him. The British guitarists of the sixties learned the rock craft from American masters, later took the lead for a while, and then were stunned all over again when Jimi Hendrix showed up, who they used to joke had arrived from another planet. Every good guitarist learns from others, or rather takes the best elements from their styles and uses them to serve his own personality. Jeff Beck, too, has woven plenty of influences into his guitar playing, developing them and building on them by exploring the endless possibilities of this beautiful instrument. Tonight’s show will be built around the music from Jeff Beck’s new studio album, Emotion and Commotion, on which he’s put together a varied mix of fairly different music. Styles that seem wildly different at first listen, he’s managed to pack into one box and burn his signature onto it.
Beck cruises between originals and covers. His undeniable melodic and conceptual potential is topped off by exquisitely measured notes that will surely carry the listener far away from everyday life. For vocal duties, Jeff Beck brought in young soul star Joss Stone, Irish jazz master Imelda May and opera diva Olivia Safe. Each in her own way adds pearls among the pebbles of Beck’s sonic mosaic. Of the three, Joss Stone is perhaps the least convincing, tackling the standard I Put A Spell On You with, let’s say, half a left hand. Jeff Beck has dressed up most of the songs on Emotion And Commotion with a 64-piece symphony orchestra, giving his ideas a lavish outfit. Out of ten tracks, only four come from the pen of Jeff Beck or his collaborators and guests, but that takes nothing away from the album’s shine. The dazzling delivery doesn’t suffer for that choice, of course, and Beck proves once again that he’s a master of the highest order. Even with some tunes that count as classics, he boldly ventures into territory where he’s never been at home before. Like a true artist, he understood their message and adapted his expression to it. The colorful range of material stretches from Lilac Wine by James Shelton from the early fifties, a hit for both Eartha Kitt and later Elkie Brooks (Beck gets help from Imelda May here), through the punchy instrumental Hammerhead and the mellow Never Alone to the heartfelt Serene with Olivia Safe and Puccini’s Nessun Dorma. Fans of his guitar playing and lightning-fast solo bursts will find some of that on Emotion And Commotion too, but for the most part the music is very calm. Jeff Beck has long plucked the strings with his fingers alone, which pays off in a unique command of the instrument. He’s unmatched at creating both screaming and soothing legato notes. The backing musicians are all heavyweights: bassist Pino Palladino, bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and keyboardist Jason Rebello.
Jeff Beck serves up new records calmly and with style. He leaves nothing to chance, and that’s why Emotion And Commotion sounds so fresh and honest. With it, he keeps his reputation as one of the best guitarists of our day. He’s given his listeners a chance to enjoy music all over again, and guitarists who admire him have plenty of bones to gnaw on. The internet is already buzzing with debates about how he played this or that note. Jeff Beck always sets high standards for himself, and he demands the same from his collaborators. In that sense, Emotion And Commotion is a mature, good piece of work. Beck’s lyrical passages charm perhaps even more than his explosive outbursts, though it’s true he serves those up with finesse in just the right doses, otherwise we’d tire of them too quickly. With a few carefully measured notes or touches on a track, he achieves more than many a guitarist does over an entire career. Especially effective is the rhythm duo of Colaiuta and Wilkenfeld, who are razor-sharp in carrying out their duties. The boss demands what the boss demands. The title alone, Emotion And Commotion, shows that the album is a blend of two worlds. In each of them Jeff Beck proves his mastery, and despite his very mature years (he turned sixty-six in June 2010) he tirelessly explores and sets new milestones in modern guitar expression.
Lineup
Jeff Beck – guitar
Jason Rebello – keyboards
Pete Murray – keyboards and orchestral arrangements
Tal Wilkenfeld – bass
Pino Palladino – bass
Chris Bruce – bass
Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, percussion
Alessia Mattalia – drums
Clive Deamer – drums
Earl Harvin – drums
Luis Jardim – percussion
Production
Steve Lipson, Trevor Horn
Tracklist
1. Corpus Christi Carol
2. Hammerhead
3. Never Alone
4. Over the Rainbow
5. I Put a Spell on You (featuring Joss Stone)
6. Serene (featuring Olivia Safe)
7. Lilac Wine (featuring Imelda May)
8. Nessun Dorma
9. There’s No Other Me (featuring Joss Stone)
10. Elegy for Dunkirk (featuring Olivia Safe)
