For my ears, guitar wizard Joe Bonamassa always sounds best when he steps away from his regular persona and takes on one of his aliases like Rock Candy Funk Party or Black Country. He’s done it again with his new alter ego of a band, The Sleep Eazys, and even though the members of the band are old buds like Reese Wynans/B3, Anton Fig/dr, Michael Rhodes/b, Lee Thornburg/tp, Paulie Cerra/ts and Jade MacRae-Juanita Tippins/voc, the sound is much more juke jointin’ and therefore, a ton more fun.
Bonamassa and the boys sound like they just jumped out of their dusty old truck to plug in with harmonica man Jimmy Hall as they speed up the swamp classic “Polk Salad Annie” with a soul sister support, while shades of Link Wray cast a dark shadow with Rhodes’ bass line on the ominous “Ace of Spades”. A dash of Men at Work’s “Down Under” is felt, teamed with some fun and cheezy Japanese sounds on “Ha So” and it sounds like the background for an Elvis movie, with Laura Petri dancing in her Capri’s as Reese boogies on the piano on “Hawaiian Eye”. You can feel the car chase seen build up to a dramatic climax on “Bond (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)” while Bonamassa sounds in ecstasy as he swings like there’s no tomorrow on Dizzy Gillespie’s bop classic “Move”. I could listen to that all day!
Not a note is wasted on the lonely streets of “Blue Nocturne”, and the team closes out with an Old Blue Eyes read of “It Was A Very Good Year” with the jacket collar pulled all the way up. The ceiling is low, there’s a two drink minimum, and make sure your car still has all its hubcaps before you leave.