When it comes to discussing Joe Bonamassa, my long time buddy and Joe B fanatic Kevin always states after seeing one of his gigs, “Joe needs to mix things up a bit with the band”. Well, Joe finally heard him, as this latest album , while including long time drummer Anton Fig and vocalists Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippins and Prinnie Stevens, brings in a few ringers like Steve Mackey/b, Lachy Doley/p and some exotic guests like Bunna Lawrie on the didgeridoo, percussionist Bobby Summerfield and some clever one-off song openings that include sitar, folksy recorders and pizzicato’d strings.
Oh, there’s plenty of blue plate blues, as on the relaxing “Known Unknown” and the electrifying “Pilgrimage”, and there ‘s a swampy funk fest with keyboards and guitar wailing on “Hanging On A Loser”. Bonamassa even gives a nod to his favorite blues rocking band Free on a Paul Kossoff-inspired Curtain Call” and a dark thundered “The Heat That Never Waits”. Both guitar and voice growl after the violin work on “Questions and Answers” as well as on the Cumberland Gapped title tune. Almost all of the songs, no matter how exotic in their intros, eventually veer into a big punch of bluesy rock of stadium stompers, producing a TKO after each piece. Dashes of experimentation of flavors on a blue plate special.