They say you can tell a lot about someone by the company they keep. If true, then the fact that Joe Boris has played and sung alongside such luminaries as Clarence Clemons, Michael Falzarano from Hot Tuna, The Band’s Garth Hudson and Buddy Cage of New Riders of the Purple Sage fame speaks volumes about his popularity and prowess.
But you don’t have to take my word for it; with the release of his double album retrospective, aptly entitled Anthology, you can see just what all the fuss is about. And if, like me, your first taste of Joe was through the slinky and ska-infused Set Me Free, this album will be a revelation.
There is pure retro electric blues with Kicking Away the Blues, lilting country rock courtesy of the gorgeous and understated Oklahoma, slow and incendiary, psychedelic guitar workouts in the shape of Time on the Run and the funkiest of southern rock on Year of The Locust.
And on the second disc, oh yes, this is a double album weighing in at 30 tracks; there are several live picks which prove, if proof were even needed, that Joe Boris can cut it live as readily as he can commit to a studio recording.
It’s a masterful release, one that has a roots vibe at its core but then uses such a sonic vehicle to drive through blues boundaries and country demarcations, funky fences through rock realms and even take a spin in more island vibes and acoustic hangouts. Genres are just signposts that the music passes on its way to fantastic sonic destinations.
And whilst the building blocks might be familiar, as always, it is the sonic architecture that the artists build with those materials which count. The sonic architecture that Joe Boris builds over this extensive and rewarding sonic collection is nothing short of extraordinary.