Fans: 4
“My work has been described to me as an interesting mix of styles resembling that of artists like Ry Cooder, David Wilcox, Mark Knopfler, Neil Diamond, Johnny Cash, Gordon Lightfoot, Jeff Beck and others. Well,...I'm truly humbled at the mere thought of any such remote comparisons to these musical giants. Personally I just think I sound like me,... whatever that is,... however, all those personalities have certainly influenced my playing and writing.” (Jeff Wyatt – 2008)
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“When I first listened to Jeff, his music really surprised me. The first track I listened to was Part-Time Love, Full-Time Pain, and I was floored at his ability to mix blues guitar, jazz bass, furious techno-esk drums (a la David Bowie's Earthling), and a strong vocal ability that is reminiscent of Johnny Cash. His music is catchy, but more so than that, it is powerful, with the ability to keep the sound fresh from track to track without ever loosing sight of the true musical nature of his art.” 'MicControlblog.com' **************************
Below are excerpts from the CD review of Jeff's REFLECTIONS AT EVERY CORNER by Vancouver's veteran music reviewer Tom Harrison posted in the Vancouver PROVINCE, March 18th, 2008:
“His guitar playing is attractive and soulful,... his singing... is not unlike Waylon Jennings..." "His lyrics, too, have an honesty and sincerity that is appealing..." "A song such as 'CORAE CORAE' makes you wonder how good an album he'd make if he concentrated on blues-rock." **************************
In August 2008 I received a CD review for REFLECTIONS AT EVERY CORNER from veteran music reviewer Ron Bervoets at the very cool Belgium site ROOTSTIME. (Ron also has the interesting job of doing interviews that are posted on the site. He has had the pleasure of interviewing blues legends that include Jim Suhler, Johnny Winter and John Mayall.) ROOTSTIME is a non-profit internet magazine and internet radio station that promotes the music of known as well as unknown singers/songriters. If you can read Dutch, you can see Ron's review of my album by going to ROOTSTIME, and clicking on the CD REVIEWS link on the upper left of their homepage. It's listed there under the AUGUST 2008 link. If you can't read Dutch, below is an English translation:
'Although "Reflections at Every Corner" is a cd with a diversity that might be considered detrimental, it is interesting. In as much as the style of Jeff Beck is difficult to put a label on, this album ranges from jazz rock tinted guitar numbers, pure blues rock over calm laid back ballads and country tinted songs, all the way to folk and world music. Moreover, Jeff did most everything himself with his own portable studio. A mishmash one might think, on the contrary, this album presents itself as a small story incorporating all these musical styles. The cd begins, for instance quite original. You hear Jeff seat himself, turn on a cheap transistor radio and pass the dial through all sorts of radio stations. Suddenly the sound quality improves, presenting "Take it From Me", a Celtic seeming song with mandolin. Into this he also brings a country as well as a folky atmosphere, along with a voice that is reminiscent of Waylon Jennings. Seamlessly, this song blends into a long guitar number "Kerala Sunset"; a beautiful, dreamy instrumental which introduces itself with the sounds of ocean waves and seagulls. This atmosphere perfectly reproduces that of a sunset on an Indian beach, where you hear the clear influences of Jeff Beck; a man who Jeff Wyatt admits to be an admirer of. Jeff is mainly a guitarist, but he also plays bass guitar, piano and other instruments. In "Part-time Love, Full-time Pain" he plays a virtuoso bass which is a reminder of another one of his heroes, Jaco Pastorius, who passed away from us much too early. "Saving Grace" is an Indian style instrumental with tabla and acoustic guitar, bringing folk and world music together. The dark, distinct sounding song "Albania" is delivered with the vocal help of singer songwriter Camille Miller. This follows with the slow, classical sounding piano ballads "If She Could Know" and "Thank You For Loving Me Again" which features a beautiful intense guitar solo, with Jeff delivering all he has. Once again we change the pace with something very different; "In Her Own Time", dedicated to a deceased friend, Kasandra. Beginning with a recording of loose shreds of a conversation with her, this song features searing slide guitar. The traditional "Shenandoah" is a beautiful distinct adaptation, following which we get "Corae Corae" near the cd’s end, sounding much like a blues rock version of the traditional folksong "Corinna, Corinna". The eleven-minute title track is a kind of symphonic epic, which brings us to the album’s conclusion. This is indeed a mixed plate. But for the superior beautiful guitar contribution, alone, this cd is worth the purchase.' (Ron) **************************
Jeff, originally from the Saskatchewan prairies, has been involved with the Canadian west coast music scene (writing, recording and performing live) for almost 20 years, prior to his 20 year involvement with the Canadian prairie music scene. As well as being a guitarist for over 40 years he also graduated from the 'Digital/Analog Automated Recording Arts' program at Columbia Academy in Vancouver, Canada in 1992.
His earliest solo recording project dates back to 1990 with the album 'FLIGHT OF THE HAWK', which was a folksy, bluesy, rootsy compilation of original tunes presented in a simple, uncomplicated fashion.
In 1994 he produced a follow up solo CD entitled 'THE BULLFROG SESSION', which featured Jeff’s acoustic guitar playing skills as he further explored and expanded his acoustic guitar technique using slide and alternate tunings. The Bullfrog Session, also bluesy and rootsy, was recorded with Jeff performing on vocals and a single guitar only,…no additional instrumentation,… leaving it intimate, simple, clean, crisp and acoustically melodic.
In 2005 Jeff co-invented a musical duo with songwriter Barry Greenfield, simply known as 'greenfield and wyatt' (subsequently shortened to 'greenfield wyatt'). Together they rehearsed, wrote, co-wrote, recorded and performed concerts to favorable reviews in and around Vancouver, Canada. Jeff and Barry released their collaborative album 'SONGS FROM THE ROTHSTEIN' in October 2005, which veteran music reviewer Tom Harrison of the Vancouver PROVINCE favorably scrutinized, complimenting Jeff's contribution with... “Greenfield’s fourth and most atmospheric album thanks to Wyatt’s stately strings and fluid guitar…”.
Jeff is currently working on his next album project PEOPLE DO BLUES due for release in Summer of 2009.