Loe Bonamassa

Despite its hardscrabble title – a sentiment mirrored by the deeply etched black & white cover art – 2016's Blues of Desperation is very much a continuation of the bright, varied blues-rock heard on Different Shades of Blue. On that 2014 album, Joe Bonamassa made a conscious decision to pair with a bunch of Nashville songsmiths to help sharpen his original material, and he brings most of them back for Blues of Desperation, too. The tenor of the tunes is somewhat heavy – there are lonesome trains, low valleys, no places for the lonely – and the production also carries a ballast, something that comes into sharp relief on the Zep-flavored title track but can be heard throughout the record.

Beth Hart first teamed up with guitarist Joe Bonamassa in 2011 and the partnership proved to be mutually beneficial. Hart gave the rock-edged Bonamassa some blues bona fides while the guitarist brought the vocalist to a wider audience. Plus, it was evident from their two studio albums and live set that the two had an easy chemistry: They shared a similar vernacular in Chicago blues and classic soul. The pair rely on that effortless interplay on Black Coffee, their third studio collaboration. Working with producer Kevin Shirley – a veteran of Black Crowes records who has been in the Bonamassa orbit since 2006 – the pair eschew straight traditionalism for a clean, colorful, retro vibe.

Beth Hart first teamed up with guitarist Joe Bonamassa in 2011 and the partnership proved to be mutually beneficial. Hart gave the rock-edged Bonamassa some blues bona fides while the guitarist brought the vocalist to a wider audience. Plus, it was evident from their two studio albums and live set that the two had an easy chemistry: They shared a similar vernacular in Chicago blues and classic soul. The pair rely on that effortless interplay on Black Coffee, their third studio collaboration. Working with producer Kevin Shirley – a veteran of Black Crowes records who has been in the Bonamassa orbit since 2006 – the pair eschew straight traditionalism for a clean, colorful, retro vibe.

Despite its hardscrabble title – a sentiment mirrored by the deeply etched black & white cover art – 2016's Blues of Desperation is very much a continuation of the bright, varied blues-rock heard on Different Shades of Blue. On that 2014 album, Joe Bonamassa made a conscious decision to pair with a bunch of Nashville songsmiths to help sharpen his original material, and he brings most of them back for Blues of Desperation, too. The tenor of the tunes is somewhat heavy – there are lonesome trains, low valleys, no places for the lonely – and the production also carries a ballast, something that comes into sharp relief on the Zep-flavored title track but can be heard throughout the record.

'Now Serving: Royal Tea - Live From The Ryman' is an incredible live concert, Bonamassa's final show of 2020, at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The special show includes tracks from his critically acclaimed 2020 album, 'Royal Tea'.

Time Clocks slowly comes into focus after the short atmospheric instrumental "Pilgrimage" sets the stage for a moody, cinematic record. In its brief minute, Joe Bonamassa plays a fat, melodic phrase that sounds uncannily like David Gilmour, a tone and aesthetic he'll return to throughout Time Clocks. Other blues and classic rock greats are alluded to on the album – the winding riff propelling "Notches" harkens back to Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac, Clapton is always lurking around the corner – but at this stage of his career Bonamassa is a stylist, tying together recognizable influences into something distinctively his own. Here, he's leaning toward somber introspection, filtering his musings on life and society through a Pink Floyd prism.

In 2015, guitar hero Joe Bonamassa set out on what he called the "Three Kings" tour, in which he paid homage to three of his favorite guitarists: B.B. King, Albert King, and Freddie King. The tour concluded with a show at the venerable Los Angeles venue the Greek Theatre, in which Bonamassa and his band treated the audience to a night of classic blues standards. A mobile recording studio and a camera crew were on hand to capture the performance, and Live at the Greek Theatre (released on CD, LP, DVD, and Blu-ray) documents the event, in which one of the 21st century's top guitarists demonstrates how much he learned from the masters. Bonamassa is backed by a stellar band of blues musicians including Anton Fig (drums), Michael Rhodes (bass), Reese Wynans (Keys), Lee Thornburg (trumpet), Paulie Cerra (saxophone), Ron Dziubla (saxophone), Kirk Fletcher (Guitar), Mahalia Barnes, Jade MaCrae and Juanita Tippins (Vocals).

Guitarist Joe Bonamassa was opening for B.B. King when he was only eight years old and was a veteran of the road and gigging by the time he was 12, so it’s tempting to toss him in the all-flash-but-no-soul prodigy trash bin that has been filling up pretty well since the great Stevie Ray Vaughan shuffled off to blues heaven - but that would be a big mistake. Bonamassa has soul, plenty of it, and he plays guitar with a reverent grace, and sometimes lost in all this is the fact that he’s a pretty good singer, too, sounding more than a little bit like a reconstituted Paul Rodgers. This two-disc set is drawn from a show Bonamassa delivered in 2013 at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London and features the guitarist and singer accompanied by a full horn section.

With electric guitar ace Joe Bonamassa strongly inspired by blues and blues-oriented six-stringers (e.g., Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter), many of his fans would politely pester him about recording a disc of blues standards…