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Nick Morgan and crew
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Concert
Review by Nick Morgan |
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JEFF BECK AND HIS BAND Ronnie Scott’s,
London, November 27th 2007 |
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| For
those as ignorant and ill-informed as I, Jeff
Beck no doubt resides in the history
book of time, nestled away on a page somewhere between
the cancellation of TSR
2 in April 1965 and the discovery of Donald
Crowhurst's abandoned catamaran in the mid-Atlantic
in July 1969. During this time he had shone as lead
guitarist of the Yardbirds, established his lifelong
reputation for being ‘difficult’ and
scored an enduring pop hit with ‘Hi ho silver
lining’ (mention of which in his presence,
or so I’m told, being likely to lead to ‘difficulties’).
Interestingly Beck seems to have excised it from
his past. The B side of the single that can’t
be named was ‘Beck’s Bolero’,
played by a prototype of Led Zeppelin, featuring
Beck, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Keith Moon
– a song widely regarded as opening the door
for both ‘progressive’ rock, and ‘heavy
metal’. Beck had also formed and disbanded
his first Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart, Ron
Wood, Nicky Hopkins and drummer Micky Waller, and
was on the verge of creating Beck, Bogert &
Appice, which to be honest is where I, and I suspect
many others left him. |
| Despite
having twenty or so albums to his name, commercial
success has never beckoned for Beck (oops), although
his standing as a guitarist (and his ‘difficult’
reputation) has steadily increased. I recently read
some interesting observations about him in a little
book by John Perry on the recording of Hendrix’s
Electric Ladyland. |
The Yardbirds with Jeff Beck (second from
the right) |
| Whilst
British guitarists such as Eric Clapton were running
scared of Hendrix and desperately trying to copy
some of his ‘moves’, Beck was actually
a source of inspiration for the American newcomer,
who studied Beck’s Yardbird recordings closely
in order to understand his unorthodox techniques.
Beck, says Perry, “was always the quirkiest
and least predictable of players. Still is.”
Something which is reflected in the variability
of his more recent albums, and his flirtations (not
always successful) with various musical styles.
Consistent however has been the quality of his guitar
work – he’s picked up four Grammy awards
for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, the last
two in 2001 and 2003. And it’s probably true
to say that he is a performer worthy of the description,
‘legendary’. |
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So
despite my lack of familiarity with his recent work
the chance to see him play in the intimate surroundings
of London’s famous Ronnie
Scott’s Jazz Club was too much to resist,
even if we broke the Whiskyfun budget to get tickets
for the first of a five night residency. Some actually
questioned Beck’s jazz credentials –
should he be playing on such hallowed ground? And
surprisingly not a few quite spiteful reviews followed
from dyed-in-the-wool hard-core jazzers. |
| Well
from where I was sitting I would say his set was
no more than jazz-tinged – he is at heart
a blues player – but that didn’t stop
it from being one of the most engrossing sets I’ve
seen for a long time, particularly with such a close-up
view of a master guitar technician at work. I was
even prepared to forgive Mr Beck for his Ronnie
Wood hairdo (or does Ronnie have a Jeff Beck thatch?)
and ill-chosen waistcoat (skinny arms – ugh!).
With him were on drums the rhythmically complex
Vinnie Colaiuta
(whose recording credits range from Joni Mitchell
to Megadeth, with a lot of Frank Zappa in between)
keyboardist Jason
Rebello (perhaps a tad intrusive I thought),
and bassist Tal
Wilkenfeld. Wilkenfield is really the surprise
package of the night. |
| I’m
sure she must be fed up with people commenting on
her youthful appearance, but the fact of the matter
is that she looks about fifteen and plays the bass
as though she had fifty years’ experience
(and she’s obviously a distinguished graduate
of the Bass Players Facial Grimaces Academy). Just
out-of-this-world playing – and the way that
she and Beck are wired together is remarkable to
observe. |
Jeff Beck and Tal Wilkenfield |
| For
all the guitar technician brooded over a rack of
axes at the side of the stage Beck played a single
Stratocaster all night which he barely had to retune,
despite the work he put it though. |
He
got sounds from every part of his instrument –
it was almost as if he was part of it, or it was
part of him. He began the set with ‘Beck’s
Bolero’ – frankly almost the only tune
I recognised all night (I did pick up ‘A day
in the life’ at the end), and continued playing
a lot of the songs that can be found on his Official
Bootleg album, recorded last year with almost the
same line-up (well, Pino Palladino was on bass,
but beggars can’t be choosers). Buy it now
– there’s still time to get it for Christmas.
And he spoke only twice: first to introduce vocalist
Imogen Heap
to the stage for one song then later for encore
‘Rollin’ and tumblin’. That was
probably enough, because on this occasion he simply
let his guitar do all the talking – and what
a conversation it was. And thank heavens no one
shouted for him to play you-know-what.
- Nick Morgan. |
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the index of all reviews:
Nick's Concert Reviews
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