THE SLEEP EAZYS: Easy To Buy, Hard To Sell (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

The advantage of being very known is that you can afford improbable things, like recording in 2020 a fully instrumental album of cover versions of songs from the 60s. But it's not enough. You also need a great talent to make it happen. And Joe Bonamassa has no shortage of talent. And he's not the only one. To record "Easy To Buy, Hard To Sell", he surrounded himself with his faithful live band, baptized for the occasion The Sleep Eazys and it is frankly difficult not to have as much fun as these fantastic musicians listening to this unusual album.

The great strength of "Easy To Buy, Hard To Sell" is that Bonamassa gives each of his sidekicks a chance to express themselves. The majority of the tracks are interpreted in the manner of a big band, with a big reinforcement of brass instruments which make all the difference and give the tracks their fullness. This is notably the case on the cover of 'Ace Of Spades' (Link Wray's cover) and 'Bond' (John Barry's theme). Even when Joe Bonamassa pays homage to his friend and mentor Danny Gatton with the cover inspired by 'Fun House' (the only track on the album that wasn't created in the 60s), he leaves plenty of room for the organ of the faithful Reese Wynans and the saxophone of Paulie Cerra. Some will call it class, others humility. Maybe it's a bit of both. But above all it is proof that Bonamassa is first and foremost a great musician who knows how to surround himself with people and who thinks first of the listener and the final result of each piece.

Having said that, "Easy To Buy, Hard To Sell" does of course contain some wonderful guitar moments. Bonamassa knows how to play everything and even manages to surprise us. This is the case with the cover of Hank Garland's 'Move' on which Joe delivers a superb gypsy jazz solo. But the real gem of the album is undoubtedly the instrumental revisiting of Frank Sinatra's 'It Was A Very Good Year'. All in finesse and subtlety, the magnificent arrangements for mandolin and acoustic and electric guitars give this melancholic ballad a strong emotional power and justify by themselves the listening of the album.

Joe Bonamassa and his band obviously had a lot of fun recording this album, which might seem a bit outdated at first glance, but in the end it turns out to be a surprising work of vitality, accuracy and eclecticism, between jazz and rock. A real music lesson. - Official website

THE SLEEP EAZYS

EASY TO BUY, HARD TO SELL

PROVOGUE RECORDS

ROCK