Send "Jeff Beck " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Leisureblogs |
 As one of the guitarists who defined British blues-rock in the ‘60s, Jeff Beck has ventured farther afield in subsequent decades than any of his contemporaries (Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Peter Green). He has explored everything from jazz-fusion to rockabilly, Tin Pan Alley standards to techno. What’s more, he releases albums at a leisurely pace, as though utterly unconcerned with the whims of the marketplace or the needs of the music industry. In that time, he has become one of the most distinctive, virtuoso voices ever heard on electric guitar.And “voice” is the operative word on his first studio album in seven years, “Emotion & Commotion” (ATCO). Though there are a few moments of shredding violence (the dated-sounding riff-rocker “Hammerhead,” the explosive fills on “There’s No Other Me”), Beck mostly focuses on coaxing a languid, liquid, singing expressiveness from his instrument....full text |
| Allmusic |
| When Jeff Beck last ventured into the studio it was to cut 2003’s Jeff, a deliberately modernist album steeped in electronica, to which 2010’s Emotion & Commotion almost feels like a refutation. Working with producers Steve Lipson and Trevor Horn, Beck has created an old-fashioned blues-rock-cum-prog record, balancing the sweeping vistas of a 64-piece orchestra with cool jazz-funk grooves, tarted-up Screamin' Jay Hawkins covers with a pair of Jeff Buckley tunes and a gentle reading of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Joss Stone sits in for two songs, including “I Put a Spell on You,” with jazz vocalist Imelda May and opera singer Olivia Safe taking lead on two others, but the focus remains on Beck, who is in a reserved, lyrical mood. Occasionally, the tempo ratchets up -- “Hammerhead,” which begins as a ‘60s riff rocker before quickly heading to Blow by Blow territory; “There’s No Other Me,” the other Stone showcase -- but Emotion & Commotion remains languid and even dreamy despite the crisp, cavernous Horn production that gives it a feeling of being trapped in 1990. All this is due to Beck, who has chosen to forgo his signature frenzied fretboard blitzkriegs and weave long phrases, his guitar rich, thick, and warm, sounding familiar yet different: he’s never sustained this level of grace for a full record, and his soulful playing cuts through the clean sheen of the production, always commanding attention even when he’s not demanding it....full text |
| Latimesblogs |
| For a guy who plays guitar as well as anyone alive, Jeff Beck makes things a little easy for himself on "Emotion & Commotion," which features the former Yardbird's treatments of such heartstring-pluckers as "Over the Rainbow," "Nessun Dorma" and composer Dario Marianelli's "Elegy for Dunkirk" from the film "Atonement." Sure, Beck handles the lovely melodies with a jeweler's delicacy, turning each one over as if examining a priceless diamond. But rare is the musician incapable of revealing the facets of Puccini's aria; it virtually guarantees a baseline of wonder, especially when cushioned by the lush murmur of a 64-piece orchestra, as it is here. Imagine Phil Mickelson in a round of putt-putt and you'll get a sense of what's on the line for Beck's first studio album in seven years. As the title suggests, "Emotion & Commotion" isn't all concert-hall melodrama; there's also harder-edged rock-band material: a down-and-dirty take on Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" with vocals from the English retro-soul singer Joss Stone; the reggae-accented "There's No Other Me"; and "Hammerhead," an appealingly overblown goth-funk workout that Beck says in the liner notes was inspired by "Miami Vice" theme composer Jan Hammer....full text |
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