Stars Rock for Les Paul at His 100th Birthday Celebration in NYC – PART TWO

by: Debra Devi

Photos by: Alissa Ordabai

Stars Rock for Les Paul – PART ONE

Next up at the Les Paul 100th Birthday celebration was Little Kids Rock, a student band from a music education program sponsored by the Les Paul Foundation. During the changeover, video interviews with Sammy Hagar, BB King and other artists were screened, attesting to Paul’s incredibly wide-ranging influence.

As Nancy Wilson noted, “He gave music muscle.”

Obviously thrilled to pieces, Little Kids Rock performed sweetly solid versions of “Smoke on the Water” and Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.” A new generation of rockers is born and hitting the streets with the rock of ages! Very cool…

Everybody rocked and for next year, it would be cool to see this celebration grow to include an even bigger assembly of guitarists take to the stage, including some of my personal favorites: Nile Rodgers, Oz Noy, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Batten, Tom Morello, Stanley Jordan, Orianthi, Gary Clark Jr., Kaki King, Ana Popovic, Buckethead, Bibi McGill.

The MC, Q104.3 “New York’s Classic Rock Station” DJ Ken Dashow, crowed that if Les Paul were there in the flesh he would be looking into the audience asking, “Where are the babes?” A guy in an oversized “Disco Still Sucks” t-shirt nodded sagely.

Next up was Neal Schon, who brought his classic monster tone from the ‘80s and beyond that reaches out sonically to a new generation – so drenched in fractal-generated delay and chorus his attack was barely discernable. Schon zoomed through instrumentals “NS Vortex” and “The Calling” with fierce shredding harkening back to his early Journey days. His set included jazz fusion keyboardist Rachel Z. Hakim who’s worked with Stanley Clarke and the inimitable Peter Gabriel.

Between sets, Paul’s manager Mike Braunstein and the Executive Director of the Les Paul Foundation, shared interesting tidbits like the fact that when Paul talked about recording Bing Crosby, Paul said he was “the laziest man I’ve ever met.” Crosby liked to quit at noon, so Paul got Ampeg to send over another tape head, and drilled a hole in it, cobbling together the first makeshift multi-track machine.

Johnny A. performed next, wearing his signature Gibson guitar, one of company’s most popular models. Two instrumentals showcased his clean tone, clear phrasing and fine sense of melody—“And Your Bird Can Sing” and a touching “Wichita Lineman”–backed by G.E. Smith and the house band.

After Johnny A., a buff Joe Satriani emerged with a grin to shouts of “Satch!” rocking a cleanly shaved head and wraparound shades.

“Les Paul was the first guitar hero,” Satriani declared.

He whizzed through “Satch Boogie” and a lovely “Always With Me, Always With You,” running his bright orange-red Ibanez signature axe through some Marshall stacks for a satisfyingly thick, present tone largely free of effects. This made his performance sound truly human, and a couple of stumbles even more exciting because they highlighted just how fiercely he was playing.

Satch was followed by the two blues/rock stars in the house, Joe Bonamassa and Warren Haynes. Bonamassa, pale and twitchy in his sharp black suit, brought hyperbolic and precise shredding and sweep picking to Muddy Waters’s “All Aboard” and a charged-up “Double Trouble” by Otis Rush. It looked like Bonamassa was rocking his favorite ’59 Les Paul Gold Top.

Haynes upped the ante, though, through the sheer force of his soul, standing stock still center stage as he played exquisitely felt and phrased guitar solos on “Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home.” Haynes used his warm, rough-hewn voice to turn “Soulshine”, by the Allman Brothers, into a elegiac gospel hymn for Les Paul.

After Haynes took us to church, Steve Vai bounded onstage all angular limbs and floppy bangs to remind us just how far out there one can take an electric guitar. Flourishing his patented pitch-shifted dive bombs and space-age effects. Vai dug into his arsenal for a frenetic, shred-tastic “Racing the World” and the jazzier “Tender Surrender.”

For the finale, instead of the radio hits Steve Miller could have played, he chose old classics and to honor his godfather, he did what Les would have done — he invited players to sit in.

He opened with “One Mint Julep” with Bonamassa and Satriani trading licks, and Satch playing against type with a flawless, simple, quiet blues solo. Miller brought Haynes and Vai up for “Blues with a Feeling,” featuring New York City blues scene staple Jon Paris on harmonica, and coaxed a super-tasty solo on “Tore Down” out of G.E. Smith, who was playing a gorgeous black 1960 Les Paul.

The music continued into the early morning hours at a festive private party at the Iridium, where waiters plied guests with plates of bruschetta, tiny quiches and other fortifying snacks. Les Paul was clearly family to the owners of the Iridium, who were there to honor him and make sure everyone was having a good time.

Booze flowed as our ears were pinned back by the Southern hard rock sound of Count’s 77 from Las Vegas, led by singer Danny “Count” Koker of HISTORY’s hit TV series “Counting Cars.”

The band played a few originals and then began bringing players up to sit in, starting with some young rockers like 17-year-old Canadian musician Lyric Dubee and adding Earl Slick, Joe Lewis Walker, Lou Pallo, Joe Berger and Jon Paris to the mix as they eventually made their way up Broadway from the Hard Rock. It was a wonderful New York City night that Les Paul would have loved, worthy of becoming an annual tradition in his name.

GALLERY