Joe Bonamassa In Concert

ByBob Bakert, Editor March 9, 2023March 9, 2023

JGT’s Bob Bakert provides his perspective of the recent Joe Bonamassa concert – Saturday, March 4 2023 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.

Above photo – Brad Jeter

Bob Bakert, Editor: I had excellent seats for this show… right in front of the line array and the front fills – Saturday, March 4 2023 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. Without a doubt, Joe Bonamassa is a great guitarist. He has chops, feel, and tone but in addition (and this is important), Joe is a consummate professional performer. Joe knows his audience absolutely delivers the “goods” from the first downbeat. It is a well-rehearsed show with great players in support, and indeed he does this so well that I think everyone feels Joe is playing a personal concert just for them (no easy feat). If we can stretch the definition of jazz to play/sing the head and then “blow on the changes”, Joe does this masterfully. He is a blues/rock player that stretches his lines into much more than the pentatonic vocabulary. The show is extremely well done and produced beautifully.

*Joe Bonamassa at the Fox in Atlanta – photo credit Brad Jeter*

So, I thought to myself, ‘here is the lesson’… If one wants to connect with an audience and develop a strong following so that you are in high demand for good-paying gigs, then a lot can be learned from Joe Bonamassa. I recommend spending the money to experience a great show and see if there are some takeaways from playing, performing, and production perspectives…

Joe gets AA++ in my book… hard work, professionalism, and a willingness to connect pay off…!

*Joe Bonamassa and band at the Fox in Atlanta – photo credit Brad Jeter*

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Bob Bakert, Editor

Bob Bakert’s love of all things guitar started when he was twelve years old. While starting with folk tunes and top 40 music of the day, his interest developed over the years to R&B, rock and of course, jazz. Bob has studied many styles of guitar but improvisation has always been at the heart of his style. He has studied with many prestigious teachers including NY studio legend Andy Roemer and GSU’s Dave Frackenpohl.

In addition to co-founding the Frank Hamilton School of Folk music in Atlanta, Bob has mentored several venues and concert series. He is currently on the board of directors for one of Billboard Magazines “Best Jazz Clubs”, The Velvet Note in Alpharetta, GA.

More recently, Bob was the “Rudder” at Eastman Stringed Instruments – providing guidance on a variety of sales, product development and artist relations projects. As with many in the Jazz Guitar Today audience, Bob has an insatiable appetite for guitar and a desire to share his love of the instrument.