Hear It Here

PAUL RODGERS Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters

Bringing in guest guitarists such as Brian Setzer, Trevor Rabin, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy and Neal Schon, Paul Rodgers reimagines a selection of classic Muddy Waters tracks, giving each of them a free rein. The results are very interesting, to say the least! It would be a shame to pick out individual tracks to recommend, but Rollin’ Stone featuring Jeff Beck might be the track to check out if you’re not going to listen to the whole thing.

ERIC GALES TRIO Ghost Notes

As an instrumental album,

Ghost Notes presents a great opportunity to study Eric’s unusual phrasing at length. You should bear in mind that Eric plays his guitars left-handed/upside-down, too, so there will certainly be some surprises in those phrases. From the slow blues of A Few More Miles to the country style of Pickin’ ’N Grinnin’, you’ll find plenty of diversity going on here – look to

Way Down for a heavier rock feel with some blistering soloing.

JEFF BECK Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop

It would be churlish not to acknowledge Jeff Beck again here, as his pioneering approach has continued from the early days of electric guitar, consistently ahead of the curve. The title track has a little goodnatured fun with the jargon spoken in many a guitar shop. Big Block takes some traditional ideas and puts them in a completely new context, and Behind The Veil surely demonstrates the kind of invention I’m trying to get at with this month’s solo!