Reigning blues champ GARY CLARK JR. continues to wrestle with live-album anxiety on the new Live North America 2016—but if the sweet, soulful playing on the disc is any indication, he’s certainly well on his way to becoming a master stage performer.
BACK IN THE EARLY Sixties, the brilliantly eccentric jazz pianist Thelonious Monk created a list of what he thought every musician should know about gigging. It included often-amusing hints like, “You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?” and my favorite, “Just because you’re not a drummer, doesn’t mean you don’t have to keep time.”
But among the whimsical bits of advice was something quite profound. Monk said, “A note can be small as a pin or as big as the world. It depends on your imagination.” When he spoke those words, the pianist knew damn well he wasn’t offering guidance—he was throwing down the gauntlet.
It’s a challenge that stalks Gary Clark Jr.’s second concert album, Live North America 2016. Of all the major fourth generation blues shredders like Joe Bonamassa, Derek Trucks or John Mayer, Clark Jr. is the most preoccupied with getting down to the essentials. With each album he gets a little more economical and precise, often building solos to a climactic single note that he makes “as big as the world.”
Like Albert King, or even Kurt Cobain (who Clark Jr. surprisingly lists as an influence), the guitarist stays focused on the emotional impact of each note. While he is certainly capable of pouring on the flash, as exemplified by the album’s mesmerizing centerpiece, “When My Train Pulls In,” it’s the rawness of songs like “The Healing” and “Grinder” and “Our Love” that makes him an important musician.
We caught up with the Texan shortly before the release of his new live album, which will coincide with another career milestone. Clark Jr. has been tapped to play with Eric Clapton on the guitar legend’s upcoming 50th anniversary tour.
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