Music Review // Joe Bonamassa "B.B. King's Blues Summit 100, Vol. II (six songs)"

When you think about an artist creating a cover song or even an entire album being dedicated to another artist, it is difficult for me to think of the type of lengths other artists have gone through previously to pay tribute which might compare with this.   The only thing which I can think of that might come close is the "Chimes of Freedom" compilation for Bob Dylan, but even then, they had some more experimental artists on there (from Flaming Lips to Kesha) and this album seems to stick with the blues.

Imagine you are Joe Bonamassa, who in his own right is a blues legend, and you not only want to put together a compilation of songs to highlight blues artists such as Gary Clark Jr (who I think in a lot of ways speaks for himself, and how he had early compare with Hendrix) but also Joanne Shaw Taylor and Aloe Blacc.    Now imagine all of these artists coming together not to create an album of songs that are unique to them, but rather as a tribute to B.B. King, perhaps the best to ever do it.   This just speaks volumes about both the artists who are on these songs and B.B. King as a whole.

Hearing guitar-based blues will always make me think of B.B. King.  I don't think there is an artist who has done it better than him and I do not think that there is an artist who has more recognition from the blues community either.  This is extremely important because this album and these six songs from it couldn't be put together about just any artist and, really, there are only a handful of artists who might be as respected and thought of in this way as B.B. King.  I actually cannot even think right now of another artist who could have an album like this dedicated to them, B.B. King is just that powerful.

Along with the history of music that can be contained within these songs, I enjoy that this is somewhat more accessible perhaps than typical blues albums.  If you're thinking of B.B. King as someone who people who listen to the blues mostly listen to, then having someone like Train here could pull in those listeners who don't listen to the blues.  But if you're not a first time listener or someone who only knows a handful of B.B. King songs, this is still something which feels like an important piece of music for the blues, even for those who collect the rarest of records.