Here is a roundup of the latest notable releases to land in my inbox. I've reviewed and been blown away by both Steely Dan and Eric Johnson at concert settings, so it makes lots of sense to feature their latest updates here...
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Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, left and Walter Becker.
Photo: Danny Clinch |
STEELY DAN ANNOUNCES NORTH AMERICAN SUMMER TOUR
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“Jamalot Ever After” Set to Begin on July 2
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have announced that Steely Dan will hit the road again in 2014, taking their “Jamalot Ever After” Tour across the U.S. and Canada. Opening at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon on July 2, the tour is set to make stops in 47 cities before concluding at Baltimore, Maryland’s Pier Six Pavilion on September 17.
Tickets for the show in San Diego, CA at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay on July 13 and for Oklahoma City, OK on July 21 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena are on sale now. Fans should check local listings and www.steelydan.com for updated tour and additional ticketing information. Ticket purchase links for the tour can be found below.
At “Jamalot Ever After,” concertgoers can expect an evening of the same high-level of musical excellence which, on recent tours, garnered raves from fans and critics alike:
"Everyone gathered Friday evening was a believer — and they were treated to something close to rapture." -The Los Angeles Times
Onstage, Donald and Walter will be joined by those same eight “brilliant” supporting musicians: Keith Carlock on drums, Freddie Washington on bass, Jim Beard on keyboards, Jon Herington on guitar, Michael Leonhart on trumpet and keys, Jim Pugh on trombone, Roger Rosenberg on baritone saxophone and Walt Weiskopf on saxophone, along with three “superb,” soulful songbirds: La Tanya Hall, Carolyn Leonhart-Escoffery and Cindy Mizelle. Together, they will treat audiences to selections from The Dan's extraordinary four-decade catalog, rich with infectious tunes, bodacious harmonies, irresistible grooves, and sleek, subversive lyrics, punctuated by blazing solo work and rich ensembles.
Steely Dan has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and helped define the soundtrack of the '70s with hits such as “Reelin’ in the Years,” “Rikki Don't Lose That Number,” “F.M.,” “Peg,” “Hey Nineteen,” “Deacon Blues,” and “Babylon Sisters,” culled from their seven platinum albums issued between 1972 and 1980 (including 1977's groundbreaking Aja). They reunited in the early '90s, launching a string of sold-out tours. In 2000 they released multi-Grammy winner (including “Album Of The Year”) Two Against Nature, and released its acclaimed follow-up Everything Must Go in 2003. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
ERIC JOHNSON AND PROVOGUE / MASCOT LABEL GROUP
ANNOUNCE JUNE 24 RELEASE DATE FOR EUROPE LIVE
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| Eric Johnson / Photo: Max Crace |
New York, NY --- Mascot Label Group's Provogue Records and Eric Johnson announce a June 24 release date for Europe Live. Guitar Player Magazine cited Johnson as “one of the most respected guitarists on the planet,” and the reasons why are many. Such primary ones as the lyrical beauty of his playing and compositions, his rich and colorfully broad palette of tones, his awesome instrumental agility, breadth and command, and the mesmerizing spell he summons up in concert. All of these qualities can be heard on his new album, Europe Live.
The in-concert collection's 14 tracks draw from throughout Johnson's career and include two new compositions: The mesmeric "Intro" that opens the set, and the rollicking rocker "Evinrude Fever" (that alludes to his love for water skiing and boating). His Grammy-winning instrumental "Cliffs of Dover" and Grammy nominated "Zap" are performed with fresh and vigorous energy, and he shows his ever-deepening skills as a singer on such numbers as his soaring, blues-tinged salute to his hometown, "Austin," and the airy and glistening "40 Mile Town." Johnson's lifelong love of jazz and more recent forays into playing it emerges on his stunning nine-and-a-half minute interpretation of John Coltrane's "Mr. P.C." on which bassist Chris Maresh and drummer Wayne Salzmann also step out with power. The song selection ranges from an acoustic guitar rendition of "A Song For Life" which he initially cut on his debut studio album to the ferociously funky "Fatdaddy" from his most recent release, Up Close. Johnson celebrates his side-project Alien Love Child with the hard-driving rock workout "Zenland," and the eleven-and-a-half minute multimodal suite "Last House On The Block." Originally released in 1996, the fan favorite "Manhattan" shines, while a gloriously cinematic rearrangement of "When the Sun Meets the Sky," titled "Sun Reprise" closes the set.
Europe Live was recorded in venues across Johnson's tour of the continent, with the majority of the album capturing his appearance at Amsterdam's Melkweg along with selections from two dates in Germany at Die Kantine in Köln and Bochum Zeche and the Paris show at New Morning. Each appearance featured a unique set list, offering Johnson the opportunity to cull this track listing from a wealth of repertoire captured.
Although he may be best known as the masterful studio craftsman behind his acclaimed million-plus selling breakout 1990 album Ah Via Musicom and its Top 10 hit "Cliffs of Dover," Johnson first made his musical bones and sparked a potent buzz in live performance from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s long before he ever issued an album and was heard on radio. As guitar legend Johnny Winter recalls of seeing Johnson perform back then, "When I first heard Eric, he was only 16, and I remember wishing that I could have played like that at that age."
Over his seven studio albums, Johnson has delivered three Top 10 hits ("Cliffs of Dover," "Trademark" and "Righteous") and two Top 40 singles ("Pavilion" and "High Landrons"). N.A.R.A.S. has celebrated his career with six Grammy nominations, while periodicals in the music space have honored with him for decades. He is enshrined in Guitar Player magazine’s "Gallery of Greats," while Musician Magazine named him one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century. He continues to refine and expand his musical brilliance in his own electric and acoustic tours (playing both guitar and piano), and his recent live collaborations on both electric guitar with jazz player Mike Stern and slide master Sonny Landreth. Johnson is a frequent featured artist on the Experience Hendrix tours, as well as acoustic excursions with the likes of Andy McKee and Peppino D’Agostino.
Johnson offers, "Working on this live record was kind of an epiphany for me because I realized that this is where it's at, no matter where you're playing, it should be a performance. The more I do that the more I realize, wow, there's something special there. I'm enjoying playing more now because I am so committed to making sure that facet is really up front, one of the number one things. And I've been doing it in the studio when people send me tracks to play on, and I say, okay, hit record, and let's just do this all the way through. And I listen back and go, wow, that's just more interesting and enjoyable to listen to."
Avidly collaborative, Johnson first started recording with others in the 1980s on sessions for Cat Stevens, Christopher Cross and Carole King, and has since recorded and/or performed with Rodney Crowell, Richard Marx, Jennifer Warnes, Carla Olson, Chet Atkins, B.B. King, James Burton, Steve Miller, Jerry Reed, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani (on the original G3 tour), John McLaughlin, Jimmie Vaughan, Sonny Landreth, Dweezil Zappa and Adrian Legg, and many more. He has paid homage in song to such players as Jerry Reed (“Tribute to Jerry Reed” on Bloom), fellow Texan Stevie Ray Vaughan (the Grammy-nominated track “SRV”) and Wes Montgomery (who Johnson saluted in his Ah Via Musicomcomposition “East Wes”).
Throughout his career he has consistently won and placed high in numerous readers and critic polls conducted by guitar publications, most recently in 2010 when he was named Guitarist of the Year by Guitar International. Eric has also won more Austin Music Awards (33) than anyone else since they began in 1981, including Musician of the Year and Best Electric & Acoustic Guitarist plus Best Instrumental & Video, and was inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame in its first year in 1983.
He follows Europe Live with an album with his friend and fellow guitarist Mike Stern and is composing and recording tracks for both a new electric album as well as his first acoustic guitar release. Additionally, Johnson has embraced the digital age, releasing tracks via his site www.ericjohnson.com. Currently, songs that include "To Whom It May Concern," "Imagination Of You - A Tribute To George Harrison" (featuring Christopher Cross) and his rendition of "The Wind Cries Mary" are available. Johnson offers, "The Internet is a creative vehicle to get artist's music heard and level the playing field. There is no barrier between the creative process and those compositions created reaching the fan." Johnson continues to reach further and higher as a player, songwriter and singer, and considers being rated one of the greatest at his talents as simply a springboard to new levels of artistry and listener appeal.
You can read my feature story that featured an interview with Johnson that ran in The Orange County Register back in 2009 here.
