Joe Bonamassa, Muddy Wolf At Red Rocks. Live Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It’s always tempting to wonder how certain genres or moods will be viewed fifty years in the future, when the generation who shaped a period of time will perhaps have shuffled off into the sunset and those that followed in their wake are left to assess what exactly their music meant to them. It’s a tempting thought filled with the potential to be uplifting and equally, sobering.

For Joe Bonamassa, arguably one of the main reasons why so many were turned back onto the Blues after what could be considered many years of self-indulgence from other artists between the mid 70s and late 90s, a period of time that was crippled with self doubt politically and full of other forms of expression. Blues is all and in time honoured fashion he pays respect to two of the true greats of Blues, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, as well as performing some of his own distinguished material in his new live album, Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks.

Whilst the vast array of live albums that the modern Blues muse has put out has been of such high quality, as would be expected from somebody who ushered in a new appreciation for the Blues for many fans, there is something other worldly in his latest release that just makes the listener reflect and focus their thoughts about the connections that Time has allowed to be shaped, moulded and engrained.

The night of music captured with near perfect charm and musical abundance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre isn’t just carved in the hearts of those that were fortunate enough to be at the concert over the Labor Day weekend, once heard it sits within the veins of the listener and refuses to let go, such is the sense of history that one night provides.

With a set that kicks off the double C.D. with the timeless words of Muddy Waters explaining what the Blues means as a truth as he sees it. The gap in time that links the two ages of Blues is sewn together as Mr. Bonamassa plays songs such as Double Trouble, My Home on the Delta and All Aboard from Muddy Water’s career through Shake For Me, How Many More Years and Evil (Is Going On) from Howlin’ Wolf’s equally distinguished time in the studio and through some of his own compositions that have made him the link, the suitable bridge, between generations in songs such as the superb Sloe Gin, Ballad of John Henry and Oh Beautiful!

In the modern age, live albums don’t just need to be heard, they need to have a sense of occasion attached to them to make them stand out in a world with ever increasing demands. It is not enough to release an album just for the sake of it, it must say something profound and in its own way glorious, for Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks, the sense of the historic is overwhelming and irresistible.

Joe Bonamassa’s Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks is released on March 23rd.  Joe Bonamassa returns to Liverpool on October 23rd when he performs at the Echo Arena as part of a U.K. tour.

Ian D. Hall