2013 CD Reviews - Beth Hart / Joe Bonamassa - Seesaw

The second pairing of powerfully dynamic singer Beth Hart and the damn near legendary blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa features another collection of old blues/soul covers as well as some modern tracks as well.

While the duo have their own separate careers apart from each other - Hart a solo career while Bonamassa has both a solo career and was formerly a part of the rock group Black Country Communion - the fusion of their talents together has somehow created an 11 track helping of pure magic. The funny thing about this is that there was only one song on the disc that I had any familiarity with going into it. That would be the closing track "Strange Fruit," which was a song performed by Billie Holiday beginning in 1939. The subject matter of the song revolves around racism and lynching.

Here, the song has an air of mystery around it and Hart's vocals come across with a brittle restraint. The entire recording gives me a chill just thinking about what's behind the song.

But that is how things come to an end on Seesaw. The rest of the album is decidedly brighter in tone and performance. A second Billie Holiday song, "Them There Eyes", opens the disc with a big peppy soundtrack that also kind of reminded me of a joyous holiday song. The lyrics however, are not in line with that school of thought; just the music.

"Close To My Fire" is a cover of the 2011 song from Slackwax. It is a decent song with Hart's drawling vocals giving the song a late night in a club with the lights dimmed low feel.

Tina Turner's "Nutbush City Limits" is highly energetic, brassy and in your face track where Hart's performance is a model of unrestrained fire. She is unstoppable here and the band as a whole re-stages the song as if it was their own, making it one of the better tracks I've heard all year.

I've mentioned Beth Hart a lot, but let us not forget about Joe Bonamassa. On "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", a 1972 song from Donnie Hathaway. The slow burning blues guitar from him is a standout and even more so towards the end of the track.

The twangy guitar tone and overall country music sound on their cover of the 1998 Lucinda Williams song "Can't Let Go" was also noteworthy.

Hart is a huge fan of the late singer Etta James and two of her songs are included on the disc. "Rhymes" features a fun interplay between Hart's vocals and the sweet guitar licks from Bonamassa. The old time vibe of "Sunday Kind of Love" is recreated here but really didn't take with me.

The 2012 Melody Gardot song "If I Tell You I Love You" had a bouncy vibe with a semi-sultry vocal turn from Hart but the whole song just felt "off".

Along with "Nutbush City Limits", the stand out tracks on the album for my money are the title track - a 1968 Aretha Franklin song - and "Miss Lady" from Buddy Miles (a track originally produced by the Jimi Hendrix).

The title cut is an up tempo number featuring a big band sound. The inclusion of a horn section on some of the songs gave an additional dose of dramatic heft to the proceedings. Hart has a throaty and demanding vocal performance with Bonamassa turning in some deft guitar histrionics.

As for "Miss Lady," big and bold is the theme of the day for the track with Hart cutting loose vocally and Bonamassa leaving no stone unturned in laying waste to your ears with a solo that puts most to shame.

To say I'm a fan of Beth Hart is an understatement, and I'm also a fan of Bonamassa's guitar work. But putting these two distinctly entertaining artists together has been a boon not only for them, but for the artists they cover because they do such a good job at reinterpreting the classic tracks and giving them new life.

The industry must love what they are doing as well because Seesaw was nominated for a Grammy this year for Best Blues Album. I don't know if it will win, but I can certainly understand why it was nominated. As a whole, Seesaw keeps both artists in the forefront of the music listener's minds and serves as a very entertaining master class to educate the modern day audiences on the greatness lying in the musical past.

A seesaw goes up and down, but in terms of this album and pairing of Hart and Bonamassa, there are only highs!