Music Review // Joe Bonamassa "B.B. King's Blues Summit 100"

 

There are very few artists out there who could have a compilation like this put together for them.  I want you to really think about the gravity of this all.   This is 32 songs over almost two and a half hours worth of music.   This is a double CD and a triple record physical release right here.  Now, who else can you say would be worthy of such an honor other than B.B. King?   And perhaps more importantly, who is capable of putting something like this together other than Joe Bonamassa?  

This album isn't just a matter of someone taking a large number of songs by an existing artist and covering them.  These songs are collaborations as well.  And not just that, but these are some of the best blues musicians in the world today getting together to cover simply some of the best songs ever recorded.   Even if you could argue about a compilation being made in a similar style for Bob Dylan or Elvis Presley, you're not going to get the same experience of having blues legends like Kenny Wayne Shepherd and just all around legends like Slash coming in to play their part.

If you've been following along, this album has also been sort of a slow release more so than just a one single at a time deal.  This makes sense because if you have an album or ten to twelve songs and want to release one or two before the full album, then this is just that number going up as well.  One of the biggest and perhaps most widely known songs by B.B. King is "The Thrill Is Gone", as it's just such a great example of the blues.  If you asked me to name one song- only one- to represent the blues as a genre it would be "The Thrill Is Gone".  

For this album we get a cover of "The Thrill Is Gone" by Eric Clapton and Chaka Khan, which also is just a lot of musician's dream pairing.  This is the type of song that should have entire books written about it and this cover just nails exactly that quality as well.  Whether you consider yourself a fan of the blues or not, "B.B. King's Blues Summit 100" feels as important as the music of B.B. King himself and this simply cannot be contained by a genre.  This is essential listening for everyone who considers themselves to be a fan of music and who doesn't like music?