Provogue Records are pleased to announce the Monday March 24th CD, DVD & Blu-ray release of “Live In Amsterdam”, the debut live recording from grammy nominated duo Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa.
Against the stunning backdrop of the Koninklijk Theater Carré in
Amsterdam, blues-rock vocalist Hart and world-renowned guitar hero
Bonamassa are on blistering form, turning in an awe-inspiring set of
scorching soul covers taken from their 2011 debut album “Don’t Explain”
and 2013 follow-up “Seesaw”.
Tracks originally made famous by artists such as Aretha Franklin,
Etta James, Billie Holiday, Tom Waits, Ray Charles, Donnie Hathaway,
Lucinda Williams, Bill Withers, Delaney & Bonnie, Buddy Miles, Tina
Turner, Slackwax, Melody Gardot and Nina Simone are given a new lease
of life by two musicians at the very top of their game.
The project was born from what Hart, Bonamassa, and Bonamassa’s
long-time producer Kevin Shirley call a “crazy idea” to record in a way
that recalls the days when bands recorded live in the studio, with
little or no overdubs; the days when the vocalist was happy when a take
was done, regardless of their personal performance.
“What we’re trying to capture is an era of reaction and spontaneity –
something that was a great inspiration for me as a budding musician,”
explained Bonamassa. “It’s a bygone era in lieu of modern times and
digital studio manipulation. We wanted to do the exact opposite of that
for this live concert. There were no nets and what you hear is what
was sung and played that night.”
Both Hart and Bonamassa were heavily influenced by these songs and
the artists who originally performed them. “We’re doing these amazing
cover songs, and what’s so great is that it shows part of what excited
us and made us want to become artists when we were young and just
starting out,” said Hart. “You can see that a lot of this was an
influence with me, and Joe, and the other musicians, you can hear it in
the way everyone plays and performs.”
Featuring 22 songs and over two hours of bonus and behind-the-scenes
footage, the sonic pairing that critics are calling a “match made in
heaven” are backed by the same world class band that kept the grooves
going on both the pairs’ studio albums: Anton Fig (drums, percussion),
Carmine Rojas (bass), Blondie Chaplin (rhythm guitar and backing
vocals) and Arlan Schierbaum (keyboards). This time out, their mighty
sound is augmented by a horn section, with Lee Thornburg (trumpet and
percussion), Ron Dziubla (saxophone and percussion), and Carlos Perez
Alfonso (trombone and percussion).
