JOE BONAMASSA

Black Rock

[J&R Adventures]

On his 10th solo album, veteran guitar-slinger Joe Bonamassa reminds us right off the bat how he earned his reputation as one of the world’s top blues-rock axemen—opening with some heavy riffing and a raw-throated bellow with Bobby Parker’s “Steal Your Heart Away.” Named after the Greek studio where it was recorded, Black Rock does expand Bonamassa’s sonic palette with dashes of local sounds, including a bouzouki on “Quarryman’s Lament” and a clarino on a lovely version of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire.” His confidence serves him well on a rollicking horn-driven duet on Willie Nelson’s “Night Life” with none other than B.B. King. The roadhouse feel of that track echoes throughout Black Rock, to the extent that it wouldn’t be unreasonable to ask that this album be packaged with a cold bottle of Bud. Too bad some states still have blue laws. – Bob Cannon