Jeff Beck is one of rock's true virtuosos and among its most dynamic instrumentalists. He is not strictly a "rock" guitarist, having taken much from the world of jazz as well. His style is largely based on improvisation, and he's cut hybrid jazz-rock albums on his own and with jazz-fusion titan Jan Hammer.

Beck's career has never followed a straight trajectory. Much like his solos, he zigs and zags wherever inspiration leads him. His quixotic career has included membership in the Yardbirds, two hard-hitting lineups of the Jeff Beck Group and a pair of albums from the mid-Seventies (Blow by Blow and Wired) that set a new standard for instrumental rock. He is one of a relative handful of musicians who have been twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – with the Yardbirds and as a solo artist and bandleader.

Beck is a whiz at wresting precision-tooled melodies and explosive atmospherics from the guitar, combining awesome fretboard technique with ...

Jeff Beck is one of rock's true virtuosos and among its most dynamic instrumentalists. He is not strictly a "rock" guitarist, having taken much from the world of jazz as well. His style is largely based on improvisation, and he's cut hybrid jazz-rock albums on his own and with jazz-fusion titan Jan Hammer.

Beck's career has never followed a straight trajectory. Much like his solos, he zigs and zags wherever inspiration leads him. His quixotic career has included membership in the Yardbirds, two hard-hitting lineups of the Jeff Beck Group and a pair of albums from the mid-Seventies (Blow by Blow and Wired) that set a new standard for instrumental rock. He is one of a relative handful of musicians who have been twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – with the Yardbirds and as a solo artist and bandleader.

Beck is a whiz at wresting precision-tooled melodies and explosive atmospherics from the guitar, combining awesome fretboard technique with mastery of effects and pedals. Writer Gene Santoro hailed "his strong vibrato, his fierce attack and fat tone, his acute microtonal sense of pitch when he bends or slides into a note, his sophisticated sense of melodic and rhythmic playing, his ability to wring painfully true notes from up by the guitar's pickups, [and] his continuing use of the electric guitar to generate textures as well as notes." Beck cultivated a singularly expressive voice on the guitar that obviated the need for a singer – or at least gave Beck the option of choosing to work with or without one throughout his career.

Joining Beck on this year’s outing will be long-time collaborators, Vinnie Colaiuta (drums) and Jimmy Hall (vocals) as well as long touring partner, Rhonda Smith (bass) and newcomer, cellist Vanessa Freebairn-Smith....

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