It is a fairly safe bet, when listening to a CD by a “guitar virtuoso” you won’t be disappointed by the musicianship. The skill level is all but guaranteed to be there, and Eric Johnson’s Europe Live is no exception. The Texan-born, multi-Grammy-winning Johnson is an accomplished blues player, who is actually a bit of a hidden treasure to his fans. By that, I mean he has somewhat flown under the radar, not quite a household name, despite the fact he has been involved with over 70 albums (solo and guest appearances). But that probably suits his dedicated fan base just fine. After all, it’s always nice to have a performer to yourself. To solidify the fact he is an amazing guitarist, none other than Alex Lifeson of Rush gave him kudos on the liner notes of Rush’s 1993 album Counterparts, while Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple’s Steve Morse recorded a song titled “TruthOla,” which is a tribute to Jeff Beck, Lifeson, and Johnson. What also makes Johnson one of the best is his expertise in a large range of genres — blues, jazz fusion, folk, new age and country.
Europe Live is 14 tracks recorded live in late 2013, on various dates of Johnson’s European trek. This is Johnson’s third live outing, and some tracks are repeated (“Cliffs Of Dover and “Zap”). Being in a live environment, however, these cuts have subtle differences and don’t feel redundant. It kicks off with a short little intro entitled, well, “Intro.” It’s a mere warm-up of sorts, with some nice chord progressions, before melding into “Zenland,” which is a nice sampler of styles yet to come on Europe Live. “Austin” is a nice demonstration of Johnson’s R&B style, a track he has stated was heavily influenced by the songwriting format typical of Stevie Wonder. “Mr. PC” is a near 10-minute excursion demonstrating that Johnson’s band is definitely up to par with his prowess (no surprise there). Bassist Chris Maresh and drummer Wayne Salzmann get their turns to shine as we get a bit of bass and drum trade-offs, before Salzmann gets his turn to solo. Thankfully, nothing is self-indulgent here. Maresh and Salzmann don’t feel a need to show off, per se, but merely give a sampling of their skills. The soloing does not bring the show to a dead halt, as occurs many times with less capable bands. “Cliffs Of Dover” has Johnson at his best as the track exhibits his many different playing styles. “Zap” is a driving rocker, with an almost Van Halen in feel. “Evinrude Fever” is an amazing bit of improvisational dexterity.
The production of Europe Live is clean and crisp, not suffering from the typical murky sounds of most live releases. Johnson’s guitar tone is amazing, almost as if he changed his strings for each song. The bass guitar is thick and funky, while the snare drum is like a snapping whip, and the kick-drum is like thunder. I am guessing overdubs were minimal, if any. Europe Live has a natural live sound, lacking that cavernous “boom” most live albums tend to suffer from. We also, thankfully, fail to get the overzealous screaming fans drowning out the band, something that is always a distraction. Europe Live isn’t perfect, but it definitely is an amazing piece of work. One complaint, if that, is the selection of compositions tend to take on a bit of “sameness.” A few different choices in the final product may have resulted in a bit of a smoother flow, but that gripe really is pointless, once the listener indulges in the overall final result. Europe Live it is a great addition for Eric Johnson fans collection. It is also a dynamic introduction for those unfamiliar with Johnson’s work, resulting as a primer to what he is capable of musically executing.
~ Bruce Forrest
