BETH HART AND JOE BONAMASSA

BLACK COFFEE

Provogue

It’s been four years since Beth and Joe recorded Seesaw so this new Kevin Shirley produced album should prove popular. With 10 songs recorded over five days in Las Vegas, they’re interpreting another collection of soul songs dressed with Joe’s thick humbucker-driven tone. Opener, Give It Everything You Got (Edgar Winter) is richly arranged with a driving rhythm, horn section, exclamatory backing vocals and Joe’s searing wah playing. Damn Your Eyes (Etta James) shows Beth in fine voice, bluesy and mean while Joe plays subtle guitar arpeggios and a sputtering solo with unison bends and passionate vibrato. The intensity rises further on their version of Ike and Tina Turner’s Black Coffee, one of Beth’s best performances here. That said, the album’s standout track is Ella Fitzgerald’s Lullaby Of The Leaves; laid-back groove with a deep pocket, great chords and Joe playing for all his worth with a screaming vibrato. Great stuff!