| November 28th, 2005 11:35 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Mayer's blues-rock power trio takes a cue from Cream, Hendrix
By JIM FARBER
New York Daily News
Nov. 27, 2005
You can't blame John Mayer for sounding a tad defensive.
Earlier this year, the sensitive singer-songwriter decided to give himself a makeover by fronting a power trio. For band mates, he recruited bassist Pino Palladino, who often plays with The Who, and drummer Steve Jordan, who keeps the beat in Keith Richards' solo group.
Their aim? To serve as heirs to the great blues-rock power trios Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Let's just say it was something to live up to.
"I'm a student of this music, a disciple," Mayer says. "I want to pay my dues and not abuse the role. Every artist who plays this music must go through a rigorous authenticity check.
"What the (expletive) is a white boy from Fairfield, Connecticut, doing singing the blues?" he asks himself.
It's precisely the question likely to be asked by those who haven't heard "Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert," which hit stores last week.
While the disc hardly mines the depth of the blues, few of the '60s power trios managed to, either. What Mayer's group delivers is scorching blues-inflected rock with a great groove and solos worthy of the mantle it picked up.
It takes a certain confidence to cut your first album in concert - especially one that features few previously known songs. Only two numbers from Mayer's pair of multiplatinum albums turn up, while there's one Hendrix cover, "Wait Until Tomorrow." The other nine songs are originals.
"I never wanted it to just be me going out with my buddies and jamming," Mayer says. "With original music, you make a statement."
Mayer says his decision to form the trio didn't exactly have his record company popping champagne corks.
"Anybody who likes the idea of my continued success" was down on the idea, Mayer says. "Losing (fans) had to be a question."
But he argues that "these days you lose more (fans) by standing still than by moving forward."
In fact, Mayer could use a bit of image-fiddling. While his two solo albums made him a star, their accent on ballads gave him a wimpy image, according to some critics. It also deepened the perception that his audience has been overwhelmingly female.
When asked if the trio's music would attract more male music fans, Mayer answers "yes," only to add quickly that he has made a commitment "not to make any decisions based on demographics."
Instead, Mayer says the trio rose out of the spontaneous interaction of the musicians. He recorded several tracks with Jordan on his last album, "Heavier Things." They enjoyed it so much, the pair collaborated on tracks on Herbie Hancock's "Duets" album and a Buddy Guy project, as well as John Scofield's latest CD.
Mayer was planning on working on some songs for his next solo album with Jordan when they decided to flesh them out by bringing in bassist Willie Weeks, who has played with Stevie Wonder and Carole King.
But Weeks had a cold the day they were going to start work, so Jordan suggested Palladino, whom Mayer admired from his playing on D'Angelo's "Voodoo" CD.
Once the three started jamming, Mayer says, "I instantly knew this was a path I wanted to follow. For the next three or four months, I couldn't put the idea down. I know it made no sense as far as 'album cycles' go. But I had an itch."
Live debut on TV
The trio made its live debut in January, performing Hendrix's "Bold as Love" at the nationally broadcast Tsunami Aid benefit. Then they hooked up for Mayer's even higher-profile Grammy show appearance in February. The songwriter won two awards that night for "Daughters," a song that critics had lampooned as corny. Mayer had his own problems with the song being released as a potentially career-defining single.
"If all they said was, 'He's the ballad guy,' I would just go insane," he says. "I want more discovery."
Being an able guitar soloist, Mayer says he always thought he was "overqualified" for working in a pop format. The idea of playing in a three-man setup offered a more challenging dynamic.
"As a guitar player, it's scary as hell," he says. "There's no cheating. If you let your mind wander for a second, it will show. Dealing with all the space (of a three-piece) initially seems like a limitation. The Zen moment is when you use it as a springboard."
The trio also gives Mayer the chance to carve out a second career. To emphasize the point, the album opens with a song called "Who Did You Think I Was?"
Some role models
Mayer has plenty of role models for the two-pronged career approach, including Steve Winwood's in-and-out forays with Traffic and Rod Stewart's with the Faces. More recently, Ryan Adams has linked up with the Cardinals between solo efforts. Mayer similarly plans to shuttle back and forth between his own projects and stints with his band.
"I love the idea of side projects so much," he says. "I admire (those of) Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck and Sting. All three share a jazz and blues mentality, to go into a new format and write just for that.
"Everything associated with this world I love. I just want to do right by it."
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| November 29th, 2005 12:56 AM |
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| Prodigal Son |
Mayer likes that heavy-rock, bluesy stuff. He's an alright guitarist in the manner of Clapton/Taylor/John Schofield. At least he's not into that completely retarded Steve Vai style. But I call it his attempt to make up for the lameness that was "Daughters" and "Your Body is a Wonderland." He reminds me of Frampton. Good guitarist, precious/corny songwriter. |
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