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Jeff to play 2 shows in March.
Jeff announces to unique and intimate shows at The Paramount, Huntington NY on the 16th&17th March, showcasing his new band line up-Rhonda Smith on bass and Veronica Bellino.
Go to Tour to find out how to purchase your tickets
Jeff Reveals New Band at Classic Rock.
Jeff Beck Receives Living Legend Award, Reveals New Band
Former Yardbird Jeff Beck was in Camden, England, Wednesday night (Nov. 9) to accept the 2011 Living Legend Award during the seventh annual Orange Amplification Classic Rock Roll of Honour ceremony, and he kept his feet firmly planted in the present, performing a set of covers that included a version of Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance.’
Roger Taylor of Queen was there to present the award to Beck at the ceremony, which was held at the Roundhouse. Prior to performing with his band to celebrate the honor, Beck admitted to that even as a longtime professional, he was nervous.
“Are you kidding? [Laughs] Yeah, I’m shaking right now … I’m just camouflaging it very well,” he told Reuters. “If I didn’t have to play, I’d be having a really wonderful time, but I have to get my head together before playing.”
He had commented previously on the award, saying that he was “very honored” to receive the recognition and he said “it means someone is out there looking at what I am doing, which is really nice.”
Kiss frontman Gene Simmons hosted the evening, which also saw Steve Winwood take home the Union Maestro Award. Other winners on the night included Foo Fighters, the Who and Queen, who landed Reissue of the Year honors.
For his performance, Beck was joined on stage by guests Chrissie Hynde, who performed the Pretenders staple ‘I’ll Stand By You,’ and Joss Stone who, sang ‘I Put A Spell On You’ from Beck’s Grammy Award-winning album ‘Emotion&Commotion.’
Beck took advantage of the special occasion to debut a new band, featuring bassist Rhonda Smith, who has been touring with Beck for the past two years, and Beck’s latest addition, drummer Veronica Bellino, whom he discovered on Youtube.
Searching for “something different,” Beck came across Bellino and got in touch with her immediately. She’s been participating in the writing process for Beck’s next studio album and he revealed that he’ll return to the studio this week to officially begin work on the forthcoming effort, which is expected to be released in 2012.
Watch a video recap of the big night here.
Bid for signed Jeff Beck DAB radio.
Planet Rock Auctions Jeff Beck signed
Pure Marshall DAB radios for charity
Planet Rock is auctioning 17 rock star signed Pure Marshall DAB radios as part of its Movember campaign. To bid for Jeff Beck's signed radio go to www. planetrock.com/mo
The auction finishes 4pm on the 21st November.
About Movember
Throughout the month, members of the Planet Rock team are growing moustaches to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. The station will also be encouraging its listeners to join in and support the team.
Money will be raised via donations through the Planet Rock website and the station will be auctioning rock star signed Pure Marshall digital radios. The 17 radios, signed by artists like Jeff Beck, The Foo Fighters and Alice Cooper go under the hammer during the month.
Jeff receives Living Legend Award.
JEFF BECK RECEIVES LIVING LEGEND AWARD AT CLASSIC ROCK AWARDS
BECK INTRODUCES NEW BAND DURING LIVE PERFORMANCE
(Los Angeles, CA – November 10, 2011) On Wednesday, the 9th of November, Jeff Beck received the Living Legend Award at the 2011 Classic Rock Awards in London, England. The Award was presented to Beck by Roger Taylor of Queen.
Beck chose Wednesday evening’s performance to introduce his new band line-up featuring bass sensation, Rhonda Smith and upcoming drummer Veronica Bellino.
Rhonda has been touring with Jeff throughout the 2-year, worldwide “Emotion&Commotion” tour and is one of music’s great undiscovered treasures. Previously, Rhonda has worked with a host of artists including Prince, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and Little Richard to name a few. In addition, Rhonda has made genre defining solo records also employing her unique vocal talents. As a vocalist, the pearly tone songstress is lyrically sophisticated with emotional depth that is both admirable and technically brilliant. As a musician, Rhonda has sparked several genres of music including smooth jazz/funk and electrified funk/rock, which only touch the tip of her creative abilities.
Beck discovered Veronica's drumming talents on YouTube, when he was searching for "something different," and contacted her right away. Veronica has been on the rise as one of the industry’s hottest, young drummer/songwriters. Most recently, she has been working with Beck for his new studio album and is credited as a co-writer with the legendary DMC. Veronica found a national spotlight in The Game's "Red Nation" video, has worked directly with LL Cool J as a member of his signed band, 13, and conquered dozens of stages with drum-icon, Carmine Appice and his SLAMM group.
During a live performance at the ceremony, Beck was joined on stage by good friend, Chrissie Hynde on the song “Stand By Me” and Joss Stone for the song “I Put A Spell On You” from his Grammy-Award winning studio album, Emotion&Commotion.
Beck is returning to the studio this week to begin work on his next album, due out early 2012.
Jeff and Band 5 star reveiw from Winnipeg.
Truth be told: of the three rock guitar gods that came from 1960s British freakbeat/blues combo The Yardbirds, our money has to be on Jeff Beck as the sole remaining purveyor at the top of his creative talent.
If you were one of the fortunate folks that witnessed his outstanding show Saturday night at the venerable Pantages Playhouse Theatre you will agree, and then some.
Sure, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton are no slouches — but for sheer six-string brilliance, ability and raw need to continue creating on his instrument, Beck stands a shaggy ’do above the rest.
Strolling onstage in his trademark sleeveless garb, mirrored aviator sunglasses and a trusty pearl white Fender Stratocaster in hand, Beck (along with drummer Narada Michael Walden, bassist Rhonda Smith and keysman Jason Rebello) settled in for a stunning set of mostly current gems. Call it power jazz/fusion if you will. In the hands of Jeff Beck the electric guitar becomes an instrument of sonic brilliance that is still implausibly unique and wildly exciting.
Using almost a claw hammer, right-hand technique combined with his signature mix of vibrato bar and volume knob magic, Beck made heavenly sounds — soaring wails, throaty moans and eardrum harming, hard-rock crunch.
The band was in top form throughout the night. Striking bassist Smith and locomotive powered drummer Walden have the chops to match Beck’s wild delivery and he stands aside often to provide these artists their rightful due. Songs such as People Get Ready, Muddy Waters’ Rollin’ and Tumblin’, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing all got a stupendous working over Beck-style. Sprinkled in the set were positively superb takes on Beck’s own songs from the last decade or so. The show was so much more than a slick guitar workshop for old school Beck fans — more like a lesson in keeping it real and pushing sonic boundaries for a cat that has been in the game for over four decades.
Texas guitarist/songwriter Tyler Bryant opened the show with a short set of aggressive, acoustic rockers and even joined Beck and band for one of the encores, ably standing neck-to-neck with one of the giants of electric guitar artistry.
http://www.uptownmag.com/music/caught-live/Jeff-Beck-132730793.html
Jeff enraptures the crowd in Edmonton.
Sixties guitar deity proves he's still got it
Jeff Beck enraptures crowd with nuanced set that ranges from Fab Four to Hendrix to Wizard of Oz
EDMONTON - The 45-odd years that he's been wringing notes out of his Fender appear not to have worn down Jeff Beck in the slightest.
With only the briefest of pauses between songs the laconic six-stringer, still shaggy haired and relatively youthful looking at 67, picked his way through a long, mostly instrumental set to an enraptured Winspear crowd on Tuesday night.
It was an enraptured, sold out crowd, for that matter; the legend still draws, and for good reason.
No walking relic from the '60s, Beck's chops are still impeccable, as is his taste in musical associates. The kit bag Beck draws from is remarkable and varied; stomping rock 'n' roll to jazz-funk, fusion through to tender ballads.
Curveballs abound; this tour has seen him pull out Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, The Beatles' A Day in the Life and Stevie Wonder's Cause We've Ended As Lovers.
Beck was a gracious host, showing off his talented band as much as possible. Bassist Rhonda Smith did double duty, pulling off a frenetic slap-pop solo early on and then singing Rollin' and Tumblin' in a gritty voice.
She moved between electric and electric upright, held down a monstrous groove with a right hand that moved in a blur.
Drummer Narada Michael Walden, looking like an ex pro wrestler in a tight, spangly top, got his moment at the microphone with a surprisingly toned down version of Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing. An industry legend himself, he was part metronome part showman, all popped eyes and odd time signatures.
There were a few surprises at hand, including a restrained Somewhere Over the Rainbow that wasn't particularly well served by Jason Rebello's synth pads, though the keyboardist did knock off a nice piano solo on an otherwise slightly bombastic version of People Get Ready.
Usually a tasteful, sensitive player with an ear for nuance, there were times when Beck brought out the arsenal of effects for the true guitar nerds. At times he was a technician, at other times a truly impressive interpreter. The best moments were the ones where Beck relegated his guitar to ensemble playing, only directing brief solos through tight arrangements, as on Stratus and Hammerhead.
Opener Tyler Bryant was an efficient and energetic opener who impressed the audience with his halfhour solo set. The 20-year-old Texan made up for the lack of backing band by fuzzing out his guitar slightly, using a stomp pad and walking to the lip of the stage to draw back any of the audience who might have decided to use his set as an extended beer break. He was by and large successful in this; his songs are generic but they're lit up by his boundless enthusiasm and his own status as a budding guitar slinger.
Jeff gives Calgary a Master Class .
Jeff Beck a master class of guitar tech
More than 40 years after he first dazzled crowds with his innovative guitar playing, Jeff Beck continues to wow both longtime fans and new converts.
While there was a mixed bag of ages at Beck’s sold out Jack Singer Concert Hall show Monday night, it was clear many of those in attendance had their own Stratocasters and Les Pauls sitting at home.
Standing in the Jack Singer foyer before the show and during the intermission, you would have heard plenty of tech talk and guitar nerd speak — and for good reason.
For local guitarists, classic rock fans and instrumental jazz-fusion enthusiasts, there was really no better place to be.
Beck is arguably the most musically sophisticated of the British, guitar-god triumvirate, which includes the not unsubstantial talents of Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
All three were, at different times, lead guitarist for legendary rock group, The Yardbirds. But Beck is the only one of the three to have really extended his guitar playing outside the rock/folk/blues realm.
Beck’s performance on Monday was essentially a master class in myriad guitar techniques.
While there were moments when technicality and slickness overshadowed the gritty blues guitar sound that initially made him famous, Beck was nevertheless thrilling to watch.
The thin, shaggy haired music veteran, who looked younger than his 67 years, didn’t say much during the 90-minute show, preferring to let his superb handiwork do the talking.
Beck’s set was a mix of songs from some of his more recent albums, including the Grammy Award-winning 2010 disc, Emotion&Commotion and several well-chosen covers, including Curtis Mayfield’s People Get Ready, Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing, Les Paul’s How High the Moon and Benjamin Britten’s sublime Corpus Christi Carol (as arranged by the late, great Jeff Buckley.)
Of the cover songs, none were as breathtaking as Beck and his band’s rendition of The Beatles’ A Day in the Life.
The guitarist combined the vocal line and melody of the song effortlessly and was given a much-deserved standing ovation in return.
As one of the world’s most revered guitar players, you better have one heck of a tight band backing you up. And Beck certainly did.
Joining him onstage was a sensational trio of musicians, all gifted performers in their own right.
Halifax native Rhonda Smith played bass in Prince’s band for almost 10 years, while drummer Narada Michael Walden was an integral part of John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra in the 1970s and has also worked as a producer for Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin.
Both Walden and Smith performed vocal duties, the latter lifting the roof off the Jack Singer during an energetic version of Rollin’ and Tumblin’.
Jason Rebello is a gifted jazz musician and padded out the sound with his synthesizers.
Beck isn’t a showoff, although one couldn’t blame him if he did. He’s very controlled and though he uses guitar effects such as the tremolo bar often, he does so tastefully.
Opener Tyler Bryant received his own standing ovation after a short set of acoustic blues-rock.
The up ‘n’ coming Texas hot shot was confident and charming on stage and showcased some very impressive phrasing.
Jeff and the band Rock out in Calgary.
Guitar god Jeff Beck earns high praise for Calgary show
Guitarist Jeff Beck took to the stage at the Jack Singer Concert Hall on Monday.
Gods don’t have to be all fire and brimstone and angry and epic and wordy and above us all.
They can be human and unassuming, and walk among us showing their otherworldly skills in a manner that makes us appreciate them, bow down to them, but still consider them among us mere mortals.
And it helps if they have a little heaven and hell inside of them.
Monday night, guitar god Jeff Beck brought those powers to the Jack Singer for a two-hour set that was as awe-inspiring and as transcendent yet earthly as most sermons you could hope to hear from any pulpit. Yet barely a word was spoken.
The 67-year-old, who rose from the hallowed ground of garage rock idols The Yardbirds — the very same fertile soil that birthed fellow gods Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page — and has had one of the least flashy yet influential axe careers in rock history, put on a set that, sure, might have been preaching to the converted but also may have made a few new believers.
Focusing heavily on his latter-day material and less on the early work, it was still an evening that allowed Beck to show his power, as he delivered mainly instrumental material and plenty of covers such as Stratus, Hammerhead, Corpus Christi Carol, People Get Ready, Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers and a heavy metal take on Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance to close the show. Beck was allowed to effortlessly work his miracles on his Stratocaster, making an unholy racket one minute, an angelic hum the next. You watch him and hear what he can do and you can’t help but think you’re seeing something on the more miraculous side of music-making.
It helped, too, that he was backed by a stellar band of apostles, featuring Jason Rebello on keyboards, bassist Rhonda Smith and drummer Narada Michael Walden. They helped make the entire evening seem effortless and filled the songs out into something more. Accomplished musicians in their own rights, they worked toward the general good — a sonic nirvana — while still giving Beck the limelight, letting him lead each song and the show itself. Even when they, themselves, were allowed to solo or added their vocals to some of the tracks — including for the Muddy Waters classic Rollin’ and Tumblin’ and Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing — it was all about furthering the gospel according to Beck.
And unlike Santana’s recent gig, Monday night’s Singer set was an exceptionally paced, intimate jazz-type show without the pretence of being an arena rock concert, featuring an endless parade of solos, but nothing that stepped out of the moment or seemed as if it was an empty display of his mighty power.
For his part, the guitarist said few words to the audience, save through his instrument, channelling Judy Garland’s vox on a gorgeous version of Wizard of Oz staple Over the Rainbow, and Messrs Lennon and McCartney on a crowd-rising version of A Day In the Life. But his message was clear.
Praise be Beck.
As for opener, 20-year-old Texas blues guitar prodigy Tyler Bryant, he’s got a long way to go before he’s considered even a cherub. Talented, true, the solo “living room jam” he put on was skilful, but offered little different from the endless parade of “next Stevie Rays” the world has been treated to over the past two decades — not a false prophet, but neither the next coming.
Jeff Razzle Dazzles in Winnipeg.
Jeff Beck concert review: Beck delivers plenty of razzle dazzle to Winnipeg fans.
Jeff Beck made his much anticipated appearance last night (10/23/11) to a sellout crowd at Winnipeg’s Pantages Playhouse Theatre.
The multi-award winning English guitarist, one of 3 legends to be spawned by 60’s British Invasion icons, The Yardbirds, along with fellow luminaries Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, hit the stage with his trademark white Fender Strat, still lean and looking guitar god cool at age 66, decked out in shades, an arm bracelet, white sleeveless shirt, gray vest and slacks.
Except for the light show, Beck eschewed most of the rock star stage trappings, settling for a stripped down stage, and allowing his guitar, the songs, and his tight backing band, consisting of keyboardist Jason Rebello, Canuck bassist Rhonda Smith (from Halifax), and drummer Narada Michael to take center stage.
Other than acknowledging the crowd with a nod or gesture, the notoriously temperamental musician said little throughout the night, except to introduce band members or to encourage applause for solo spots, preferring to let his guitar speak for him.
Beck’s virtuosity is a marvel to behold. He’s lost none of the speed, dexterity, or phrasing that made him an icon among fans and peers, and is still the master of the whammy bar, capable of wringing every ounce of emotion out of a single sustained note in 1 moment, and, in the next, pummel the listener with lightning quick guitar riffs, leaving the many guitar god wannabees in attendance to peel their collective jaws off the floor.
Though his lengthy back catalogue stretches back to the 60’s, Beck focused mostly on contemporary material, primarily tracks from his last 3 Grammy winning albums, You Had It Coming, Jeff, and Emotion and Commotion, with the veteran musician continuing his pioneering fusion of blues, rock, electronica, jazz and funk, which has earned him both critical and chart success.
Highlights included the riff laden "Plan B," from the 2003’s, Jeff, the hard rocking “Hammerhead,” from 2010’s Emotion and Commotion complete with waa-waa pedal intro, his tasty instrumental cover of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” (a song Beck has successfully tackled on a number of occassions, teaming with the likes of ex-bandmate Rod Stewart, and more recently Joss Stone and Sting), “Big Block” from 1989’s Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop, which highlighted the rhythm section of Smith and Michael at their popping best, and Beck’s soaring rendering of Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” also from Emotion and Commotion.
But it was the homestretch that offered some of the most interesting twists of the night, and displayed Beck’s eclectic musical nature, showcasing himself at his whammy bar best on a dynamic cover of Lennon-McCartney’s “A Day in the Life,” which netted the band their 1st standing ovation. He returned with a swinging tip of the hat to the late great Les Paul with the jazz standard “How High the Moon,” followed by a funkadlelic cover of Sly Stone’s “I Wanna Take You Higher,” helped along by some spirited lead vocal work from Smith and Michael, who roused the entire crowd to their feet, clapping and singing along to the chorus.
Beck then did a 180 degree shift, serving up a tasteful rendering of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, (yup…the opera) and closed with a hard rocking cover of “Bad Romance,” complete with middle 8 rap courtesy of Smith (yup…that would be the Lady Gaga hit)!
Who else but Beck could move from 40’s jazz, to 60’s funk to traditional opera to contemporary electro-dance pop without batting an eyelash and make it all work smoothly and successfully in a single set?
Guitar prodigy Tyler Bryant opened the night with an electrifying acoustic set that took many Winnipegers by surprise. The 20-year old Texan dazzled with his guitar and vocal chops, and also raised the bar a couple of notches, when he returned later in the night for a guitar duet with Beck during “I Wanna Take You Higher.”
Jeff WOWs the crowd in Kitchener.
Beck playing guitar akin to Picasso using his paint brush
Guitar wizard Jeff Beck plays for a packed house at the Centre in the Square.
In concert Guitar wizard Jeff Beck plays for a packed house at the Centre in the Square.
David Bebee/The Record
He doesn’t sing, barely speaks and his movements on stage can best be described as, ahem, non-existent.
But for almost two hours Wednesday night at Centre in the Square, British guitar legend Jeff Beck enthralled a near packed house of beer-bellied rock geezers, hipster music aficionados and beleaguered teenagers frogmarched to the concert by determined baby boomer parents.
And why not? He may receive a seniors discount at Shoppers Drug Mart, but for a guy pushing 70, Beck — in dark shades and shag haircut — looked and moved like a man half his age as he pumped out songs from his eclectic solo career and inspired covers by everyone from Les Paul to Lady Gaga.
Lady Gaga? That’s right. And Beck’s rendition of her dance pop hit Bad Romance not only made the electroglam queen — whose top 40 fans wouldn’t know Beck from Blind Melon — cool to a rock ‘n’ roll crowd, he made her music seem elemental, fierce, necessary.
“I’m sure she wrote that for me!’’ he quipped in a rare spoken aside.
Beck can afford to laugh. He has a resumé longer than your grocery list — everything from a stint with legendary 1960s act The Yardbirds (he replaced Eric Clapton), to a storied solo career that featured Rod Stewart as his vocalist, to practically inventing heavy metal, to the jazz-fusion breakthrough of 1975s Blow By Blow, to invitations to join The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd (all declined), to inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (two) to enough Grammy awards to plug the Hoover dam.
But if you walked in knowing nothing more than that he’s a 67-year-old man who plays the guitar, you would still have been on your feet pumping your fists to his bravura version of Sly Stone’s funked-up party hit, I Want To Take You Higher.
You would still have found yourself mesmerized by his mournful, achingly delicate fretwork on Somewhere over the Rainbow — yes, from the Wizard of Oz — and People Get Ready, the closest thing he’s had to a hit single.
And you would still have felt yourself oddly, undeniably moved by his languid jazz-rock excursions on Blow By Blow’s ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers, Wired’s Led Boots and an hypnotically arresting version of The Beatles’ A Day In The Life.
Soft to hard, fast to slow, from a whisper to a scream.
Despite his rep as an iconic guitarist in the mould of Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page — a guy who helped change the face of pop music, back when it mattered — he never veered into bombast, never coasted on reputation, never gave a sense he was anything less than thrilled to be playing these tunes, to these people, on this night.
That’s artistry, man. Like a musical Matisse or Picasso, Beck’s guitar work — backed by an impressive three piece that included Halifax bassist Rhonda Smith — created sonorous landscapes that hovered, taunted and provoked, without ever boring.
And this, keep in mind, is a guy who, from half way down the hall, looks less like a journeyman rock survivor — though he does bear an uncanny resemblance to Rolling Stone Ron Wood — than a thin strand of spaghetti.
What is he, 97 pounds? And yet, because of this skill he’s developed, this art, he was able to command respect from the beefy biker behind me in the Harley Davidson T-shirt — a guy who could probably flatten him in one punch.
If there’s a lesson here, it’s to figure out what you’re good at, bear down hard, and ride it to the stars.
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