Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa are like twin orbiting stars, the immense fire raging beneath one feeds across to the other in some sort of celestial storm and the warmth received grows in intensity and the process is reversed, a dance between two stars, both pulsating, both energetic and for whom if one was to be pulled away, circulated out of its chosen trajectory, it’s hard to imagine the other’s fire being seen as bright.
Live In Amsterdam, the first such collaboration between the pair outside of the studio, sees Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa at their absolute pomp, the ceremony of two circumnavigating stars, one whose voice could have melted the stone men of Easter Island, the other whose guitar playing marks him out as a living legend, and perform songs from their two studio albums and the wonderful mix of classic tracks from the Golden age of Blues and Rock.
Recorded live at the Koninklijk Theater Carré in Amsterdam and aided and abetted by Anton Fig, Carmine Rojas, Blondie Chaplin and Arlan Schierbaum, Live In Amsterdam is perhaps the epitome of two cultures, two wonderful musicians/vocalists at the top of their game complimenting each other so well that it is hard to imagine them being apart. The subtly of femininity that Beth Hart brings to the recoding on tracks such as Chocolate Jesus, Close To My Fire, Sinner Prayer, See Saw and the awesome arrangement of the song Strange Fruit, a classic that up till now has never matched the assuredness, nor penetrating passion of Billie Holiday’s version, no matter who has tried, and the brutal gliding range of a man who simply never seems to put a finger wrong.
Live In Amsterdam is yet another reason, alongside his own night that was recorded for posterity at the Vienna Opera House, in which to sit back and acknowledge that Joe Bonamassa is just one of those guitarist that when the time comes, the bell strikes its final lingering hour, you can say with absolute clarity and spoken lucidity that you were honoured to share your passion for music with.
A great live album; one that brings the listener closer to the beating heart beneath the guitar barrel without the sometimes unnecessary clamour and acclaim captured by those more interested in the reaction of the recorded audience. Excellent!
Live in Amsterdam is released on March 24th.
Ian D. Hall