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Jack Massarik's rating
No stars for Beck
By
Jack Massarik
29 Nov 2007
Friends had encouraged me to check out the new Jeff Beck, hinting that this wealthy Strat-screeching icon had been sharpening his jazz chops in his recent years. They were wrong. What I heard before I stalked out - warp-volume thunderers like Beck's Bolero, Cause We Ended, Blast fom the East and Scatterbrain - was nothing but unadulterated rock.
"He's the greatest guitarist in the world!" a companion protested as I headed for the exit. Well, Scott's manager Leo Green may believe so, but that screaming post-Hendrix machismo, executed on the uppermost six frets of the guitar, will never cut it with the jazz world. The packed crowd who stayed put looked like beady-eyed, middle-aged air-guitarists, re-living their sad youth.
Jeff's shrill howls might have earned one star for the efforts of keyboarder Jason Rebello, female bass-guitarist Tal Wilkenfield, a pouting teen-fantasy figure, and Vinnie Coliuta, a heavy-handed drummer hired by Herbie Hancock for stadium jazz-rock excesses. But no, that decision faded when their version of Goodbye Pork-Pie Hat morphed into a crude 12-bar thrash that ignored all Charlie Mingus's subtle substitute chords.
Joss Stone reportedly leapt on stage near the end to join them in People Get Ready but she was welcome. Putting music like that on this stage was an insult to a half-century of world-respected jazz tradition.
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Reader views (13)
Hard to square what I saw on the Beeb with Mr Massarik's caustic review. My jazz collection stretches back to the 40's, but I'm not sure what constitutes jazz anymore. If Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny are playing jazz, and I think they are, then so was JB on the Beeb. At somewhere north of 65 I've met a lot of people who resemble Mr Massarik, in that they never really got beyond bop, couldn't cope with Miles post 1968, and seem pretty convinced that they know what jazz is and are determined to protect it's essential purity within their defined parameters........I would hate to define JB stylistically, but that he is a stylist, perhaps unique in his approach seems to me to be unarguable. Beck is a player of some consequence and what I saw was no more rock than say, Grant Green's "Idle Moments" or much of Herb Ellis's work, but in no way resembles them. Jazz has never been such a broad church as it appears to be now and the genre is the better for it. Vinnie Colauita's roll call of employers essentially cuts the ground from under Mr Massariks feet. But hey, like the man said: no one ever raised a statue to a critic.
- Mike Muse, leicester, UK, 05/11/2008 15:18
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I didn't get there, but just saw it on the Beeb, and an awesome concert it must have been. They should have made a CD or 3.
As for the review above by Jack Massarik.
One man's lone opinion and to my mind Tosh.
The ranting of a Jazz dinosaur maybe.
He may be a Jazz officianado, but he has a bit of a blinkered view.
Jazz evolves and blends with other forms, otherwise we'd all still be listening to skiffle and big bands.
Back to the Cardigan my man.
- Andrew, Cambridge, 03/11/2008 15:42
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...'middle-aged air-guitarists,'...hmmm, like Jimmy Page spotted in the audience! What a load of utter tosh this review was- reactionary, old, dull and beardy- sweater wearing nonsense. Rock machismo it was not...I have seldom been so moved and touched by the lyricism and delicacy of an electric guitar- and I ain't a young-un ! I was absolutely bowled over by the quality of the band, the songs and Jeff's stunning playing. Is it Jazz ?(is it art)...who cares?...when it's that good (and, sorry Jack, it was that good), the labels cease to be important. If Jazz means reactionary, out-dated people listening to endless noodling by musicians who can't play less than fifty notes where one or two will say it all, then put it to sleep- please!
- Laurence Whiteley, London UK, 03/11/2008 12:26
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Jeff is the best. Tal is gorgeous, and I'm not in my teens. I kept pausing to look at her.The best drummer I've seen in a long time. Heavy handed my a**e!
- Mike, leominster UK, 02/11/2008 21:02
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I wasn't at the Ronnie Scott's gig but am listening to it on the BBC's iPlayer as I write. I respect Jack Massarik's knowledge of jazz and the jazz world, but it seems to me that he is doing what most likely he decried in his youth. No, this isn't jazz as he knew it and it doesn't really matter whether or not it can be defined as jazz or not. When bepop started up, it was lamented but the older jazzers. When Miles Davis went for jazz rock fusison he was criticised. In the folk world Dylan was lambasted for going electric. But at the end of the day, who bloody cares? If Beck or Coltrane or Mingus or Dylan or whoever produce a soung which is interesting, holds our attention etc etc does it really matter whether it fits into a particular category? No, not really. Whatever anyone likes to call Jeff Beck's music - rock, jazz, jazz/rock - what interests me is what he actually produces. And I like listening to what he plays a great deal.
- Patrick Powell, st breward, cornwall, 29/10/2008 01:20
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I've never heard of this Jack Massarik guy before now. Looks and sounds like a sad old man to me - being one myself, I should know. If Jack Massarik, if indeed that is his name, understood anything about jazz, he should recognise that Jeff Beck is one of the most admired guitarist in the jazz world. Eat your pork pie hat Jack.
- Jimmy Page, Naskville, USA, 27/10/2008 19:46
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Unfortunately I was unable to get tickets to see Jeff Beck at Ronnie Scotts. I love to hear a guitar played well be it blues rock or jazz, the latter being my least favourite but the discipline which by definition should have no rules or boundries. I think a look back at the history of Ronnie Scotts would find find many of Jeff Beck's contemporaries cut their teeth on the 'jazz' audiences at this fine establishment, well done Ronnie Scotts!.
- Steve Naylor, Alfreton,UK, 23/12/2007 17:38
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My name is John Burns I live in Switzerland. I flew in to see Jeff Beck. I am 57. Beady eyed – yes. Sad youth – no.
I lived my youth at the height of Hendrix and Cream.
The post war times were thrilling. Not at all sad. The positive, creative and dynamic influence of those years still give people like me the energy to fly across and see the Cream concert at the RAH and to see Jeff beck at Ronnie Scott’s. It also still gives me the energy to follow and enjoy all kinds of music of my children’s. It just needs an open mind and a love of music.
A lot of people at Jeff Beck’s concert were like me – so your comment “ re-living their sad youth “ could not be wider from the mark.
Sitting to the right of me were two middle aged guys from the UK. They were thrilled by Jeff’s concert. Behind me was a guy from Portugal – he flew in to see the concert and was blown away by the music. Sitting on my left was my 25 year old son. He was mesmerised.
Jeff Beck’s music was brilliant. It transcended the generations and both myself and my son left London in a state of euphoria. That is what it is all about.
We are the customers and the ultimate judge. If Jeff Beck gave another set of concerts at a similar venue I would jump in a plane to see him again. So would my son.
Congratulations and thank you to Ronnie Scott for staging this show.
- John Burns, Fribourg, Switzerland, 16/12/2007 21:21
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Mr. Beck plays an ELECTRIC guitar, not an amplified acoustic one, and that his ability to harness the huge sonic palette of the instrument is what sets Jeff apart from those who seek merely to amplify their crusty, worn out old jazz turn-arounds, usually played on a muffled-sounding, large-bodied semi-acoustic guitar with heavy tape-wound strings which make every attempt at an inventive musical phrase sound fluffed and ham-fisted. Beck almost certainly does understand chord substitutions but he prefers to elaborate on the basic chord with sound, using harmonics, bends, double stops, hammer-ons, amp feedback and use of slide and vibrato arm, not with superfluous notation, and his technique encompasses far more diverse abilities than any jazz guitarist I've ever been forced to endure - and believe me, that's an awful lot!
- Roger Adams, Lancing, England, 15/12/2007 16:54
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I was lucky enough to see Saturday's early set and won't forget it. To describe Vinnie Colaiuta as heavy handed is just plain insulting.
Jeff Beck isn't Charles Mingus. He's Jeff Beck. A unique and distinctive musician whose work straddles the artificial labels beloved of critics.
- Martin Painter, Barnet, UK, 07/12/2007 10:45
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I saw JB on Thursday, noting both Brian May and Tony Iommi in the audience next to me… he is just a stunning guitar player, and I have to say that the reviewer is talking drivel. Eric Clapton and Jeff did a couple of nice blues numbers at the end too ) -great. Personally I loved the Indian-influenced Nadia, for example, which I (I'm not a musician) imagine is extremely difficult to play, and beautiful to listen to.
- Dermot W, London, UK, 05/12/2007 16:19
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I saw the Jeff Beck gig on Tuesday night and thought he was incredible. I am a huge jazz fan and have been waiting to see him for years. To see him at Ronnie Scott's was a privilege. I've seen countless acts there over the years, but the acts since the new owners came in have been superb, a different league to the boring stuff that was on there in the past.
- Stewart, Buckinghamshire, 01/12/2007 02:31
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Better than some old jazz cat lamenting the loss of his youth. Beck can play with the best of them.
- Wayne M., Hastings, USA, 30/11/2007 14:18
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