December 02, 2002

Joe invited me down to his show at the House of Blues on Sunset the other night so a few of my friends and I went down.

I have been watching him play since I was 13 years old, have played close to hundreds of shows with him, and I believe I'm being totally realistic when I say his performance the other night was the best I have ever seen him.

I believe that no matter how good you are on an instrument, there is always something that one gains from time. It's a type of maturity and confidence. In watching Joe I saw a completely inspired musical person who was in unequivocal control of his instrument. No matter how many times I hear those melodies they still have a tendency to penetrate to the depth of my being. I find myself swooning while bathing in the lushness of his tone, sheer virtuosity and composition. It's amazing to me how he never makes mistakes.

Reeves Gabrels put it perfectly when he said, (and I'm paraphrasing) "By the end of the show, Joe is like a prize fighter who has thrown every blow he can and in the end just keeps slugging and slugging until you think he just can't do it anymore, but he still does."

It was a tremendous show and left me inspired, as usual.