Jazz Articles about Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck: Emotion & Commotion

by Doug Collette
April 21, 2010

Jeff Beck's Emotion & Commotion is designed to nurture the guitarist's growing visibility of the last ten years, and may well serve that purpose, even if it only scratches the surface of his genius. The presence of orchestration on many of these tracks is admirable for its ambition, but is not a novel concept within Beck's discography. The Beatles' producer George Martin, who worked with this idiosyncratic musician for three albums, forged some judicious arrangements on Blow by ...

Jeff Beck: Emotion & Commotion

by John Kelman
April 6, 2010

Of the three artists who emerged as “guitar gods" on the British rock scene of the 1960s--all three coming up through the same group, The Yardbirds--Jeff Beck is, more than perennial favorites Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, the one who has taken the most risks throughout his career. They don't always work, either; on the other hand, his performance at the Ronnie Lane ARMS concert in 1983 may have been less than a resounding success, but the guitarist deserved major ...

Jeff Beck: Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's

by Doug Collette
May 15, 2009

Jeff Beck Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's Eagle Vision2009 Not appreciably different, at least in terms of additional quantity of material, this DVD counterpart to the previously released audio CD of Jeff Beck Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's is nevertheless revelatory on its own terms. And it's not the interviews with the iconoclastic British guitarist, who comes across equally thoughtful and self—effacing (not to mention effusive in his praise of the ...

Jeff Beck: Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's

by John Kelman
April 21, 2009

Jeff Beck Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's Eagle Vision2009 It's becoming increasingly common to release concert performances concurrently in both CD and DVD format--satisfying for those who want to experience the visuals but also appealing to fans who want the audio to be available more readily outside the confines of their living room. Yet it's often superfluous. Watching the performance once is worthwhile, but additional viewings rarely reveal a whole lot more. The ...

Jeff Beck: Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's

by John Kelman
February 6, 2009

Of the trifecta of British “guitar gods" that emerged in the late-'60s--Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page--Beck is the one who, regardless of style, has best embodied the spirit of jazz. His performances are always chancy propositions because he's always been about taking great risks, and they don't always work. Whether or not Beck's shows are totally successful, they're always worth the ride because he makes complete exposure the very lifeblood of his music. When Beck is on--as he ...

Jeff Beck: Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's

by Doug Collette
November 28, 2008

Performing This Week... Live at Ronnie Scott's, recorded during a 2007 run at the renowned London club, is Jeff Beck's first release on the Eagle label after a long-standing tenure on Epic Records. It's an understatement to say it bodes well for the continued vigor of the man who replaced Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds.

Recent setlists haven't varied dramatically on Beck's last few tours, and the length of performances here never exceeds six minutes, so this isn't exactly a ...

Jeff Beck: Live, Remastered And Expanded

by Doug Collette
January 27, 2007

Jeff Beck is the most explosive guitarist of his generation. Since he first stepped into the spotlight as a replacement for Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds, he has played with an impulsive, unorthodox logic all his own. It's an approach he has continued to hone through pioneering forays in the realm of jazz-rock fusion, as presented by Blow By Blow, Wired and later collaborations with Jan Hammer and Beatles' producer George Martin. Today, at the age of 62, ...