Description

Joe Satriani is one of the foremost "guitar shredders," a guitarist whose lightning speed virtuosity is matched by his vast theoretical knowledge and musical imagination. The New York six-string demon kicked around as a sideman for a long time before kicking off his solo career in the '80s. Since then he's garnered countless Grammy Nominations for Best Rock Instrumental, worked with shred supergroup G3 (including peers Steve Vai and Eric Johnson), and inspired legions of fiery guitarists.

Biography

b. 15 July 1956, USA. Satriani, who grew up in Long Island, New York, USA, is a skilled guitarist responsible for teaching the instrument to, among others, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, and Steve Vai. After travelling abroad extensively in his youth he returned to the USA to form the Squares. This project folded in 1984 through an abject lack of commercial recognition, giving Satriani the opportunity to concentrate on his experimental guitar playing. The outcome of this was the release of an EP, Joe Satriani. Following a spell with the Greg Kihn band, appearing on Love And Rock 'N' Roll, Satriani released Not Of This Earth, an album that was less polished than its successor, Surfing With The Alien. Despite offering no vocal accompaniment, this set was a major seller and brought mainstream respect to an artist often felt to be too clinical or technical for such reward. In 1988 he was joined more permanently by Stuart Hamm (bass) and Jonathan Mover (drums), also working for a spell on Mick Jagger's late 80s tour.
Never afraid to push his considerable musical skills to the limit, Satriani has played the banjo and harmonica on his albums, as well as successfully attempting vocals on Flying In A Blue Dream. In 1993, Satriani released Time Machine, a double CD that contained a mixture of new and previously unreleased tracks dating back to 1984, and also live material from his 1993 Extremist world tour. The guitarist then replaced Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple in 1994, while maintaining his own solo recording career with further albums.
DISCOGRAPHY: Not Of This Earth (Relativity 1986)***, Surfing With The Alien (Relativity 1987)****, Dreaming 11 (Relativity 1988)***, Flying In A Blue Dream (Relativity 1989)***, Time Machine (Relativity 1993)***, Joe Satriani (Epic 1995)***, with Eric Johnson, Steve Vai G3 Live In Concert (Epic 1997)****, Crystal Planet (Epic 1998)***, Engines Of Creation (Epic 2000)***, Live In San Francisco (Epic 2001)**, Strange Beautiful Music (Epic 2002)***, Is There Love In Space? (Epic 2004)***.
COMPILATIONS: The Extremist (Relativity 1992)***.
VIDEOGRAPHY: Reel Satriani (Dream Catcher 1998), Live In San Francisco (Epic Music Video 2001).

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