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Joe Satriani

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Joe Satriani
File:Satriani.jpg
Background information
OriginWestbury, New York, USA
Years active1986-present

Joe "Satch" Satriani (born on July 15, 1956, in Westbury, New York and brought up in Carle Place, New York, USA) is an instrumental rock guitarist and teacher, and a recognized virtuoso of the rock guitar.

Biography and playing history

Joe Satriani was inspired to play guitar at age 14 after hearing that Jimi Hendrix had died. Satriani reportedly heard the news during a football training session where he immediately confronted his coach and announced that he was quitting to become a guitarist. Starting in 1974, he studied music with jazz guitarist Billy Bauer and with reclusive jazz pianist Lennie Tristano. The technically demanding Tristano greatly influenced Satriani's playing. During the 1970's, Satriani also began teaching guitar, with his most notable student being fellow Long Island native Steve Vai. In 1978, he moved to Berkeley, California to pursue a music career. He continued to teach guitar in California, and his students included David Bryson (Counting Crows), Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Larry LaLonde (Primus), Phil Kettner (Laaz Rockit) and Charlie Hunter.

When his friend and former student Steve Vai gained fame playing with David Lee Roth in 1986, Vai raved about Satriani in several interviews with guitar magazines. In 1987, Satriani's second album Surfing With the Alien produced popular radio hits, and was the first all-instrumental release to chart so highly in many years. Satriani also toured Australia and New Zealand with Mick Jagger in support of the Rolling Stones singer's solo album.

File:April 1990 - Guitar World.jpg
Satriani (left) on the cover of the April 1990 issue of the Guitar World magazine with Steve Vai.

In 1989, Satriani released the album Flying in a Blue Dream. The album sold well, particularly in Texas. It was heavily promoted by KLBJ-FM in Austin. One Big Rush was featured on the soundtrack to the Cameron Crowe movie Say Anything. The Forgotten Part II was featured on a Labatt Blue commercial in Canada in 1993. Big Bad Moon, one of Satch's few singles with personally sung vocals, was a big hit in 1991-1992.

In 1992, Satriani released The Extremist, his most critically acclaimed and commercially successful CD to date. Radio stations across the country were quick to pick up on Summer Song, while Crying, Friends and the title track were regional hits. The CD is now considered a rock classic.

In late 1993 Satriani joined Deep Purple as a short-term replacement for departed guitarist Ritchie Blackmore during the band's Japanese tour. The concerts were such a success Satriani was asked to join the band permanently, although his long-term contract with Sony prevented this happening. In 1996, he formed G3, a concert tour featuring three instrumental rock guitarists -- originally Satriani, Vai, and Eric Johnson. The G3 tour has continued periodically since its inaugural version, where Satriani and Vai are returning members, featured with a floating third member, including Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robert Fripp and more.

Satriani is also credited on many other albums, including guitar duties on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid (1991), Spinal Tap's Break Like the Wind (1992), Blue Öyster Cult's Imaginos (1988), band members Stu Hamm and Gregg Bissonette's solo albums, and many others including countless guitar heroes-style albums. Interestingly, he was credited for singing background vocals on the 1986 debut album by Crowded House. In 2003, he played lead guitar in The Yardbirds' CD release Birdland. In 2006 he guested on several tracks for Deep Purple's vocalist Ian Gillan's solo CD/DVD dual disc Gillan's Inn

Technique and influence

Satriani is recognized as one of the most technically proficient guitarists in rock. He has mastered nearly every performance technique on the instrument, including two-handed tapping, sweep picking, volume swells, harmonics, and extreme whammy bar effects. One of his trademark compositional traits is the use of Pitch Axis Theory which he applies with a variety of modes. Satriani approaches scales and soloing differently. Instead of practicing his scales in positions he practices his scales one string at a time. He calls this technique ‘linear scales’. He moves into positions on extremely technical passages.

Satriani (like Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Steve Morse and other guitarists who emphasize technical command and precision in their playing) has been criticized by those who prefer simpler compositional styles. Some of his contemporaries have been known to take pot-shots at the earnest Satriani. For example, Gary Moore once said that he found Satriani's music "cerebral", saying, "it leaves me cold". Although his more flamboyant student, Steve Vai, has garnered more attention, most writers and musicians respect Satriani's musicianship as well as his modest and personable demeanor.

Fans of instrumental electric guitar music widely laud him as the most lyrical and soulful of contemporary rock virtuosos, with an eye and an ear for a good tune and, more recently, an emphasis on emotion over technique. Since 1998 his albums have been, stylistically speaking, a departure from his earlier style, delving into simpler, more widely accessible genres. Satriani has maintained a large fan base throughout the world, buoyed largely by the lasting influence of his earlier albums.

His success is notable in a genre typically unfriendly to instrumental musicians. Satriani has received 13 Grammy nominations, and he has sold more than 7 million albums worldwide. Many of his fans call him "Satch," an apocope, or shortening, of Satriani, as have his friends over the years. The song "Satch Boogie" from the album Surfing With the Alien is one of possibly several hundred such songs numbered, but with no names ("Satch Boogie 1," "Satch Boogie 143," etc.). Other guitarists sometimes refer to him as "Saint Joe;" there are numerous t-shirts to this effect.

Satriani has endorsed Ibanez's JS Series guitars, and Peavey's JSX amplifier. Both lines were designed specifically as signature products for Satriani.

Recurring themes

Satriani's work freqently makes references to various science fiction stories and/or ideas. "Surfing With the Alien" is a reference to the comic book Silver Surfer while "Ice 9" refers to the secret government ice weapon in Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle." "Borg Sex" may be a reference to Star Trek, which features a [homogenous] race known as the Borg. Additionally, his albums and songs often have other-worldly titles, such as "Not of this Earth," "Is There Love in Space?," and "Engines of Creation." His best work is often either emotional (electric ballads like Until We Say Goodbye and Always With Me, Always With You) or deeply mystical (like the wonderfully dark rocker Ceremony).

On the album "Super Colossal" the song titled "Crowd Chant" was originally called "Party On The Enterprise". "Party On The Enterprise" sampled sounds from the starship Enterprise from the Star Trek TV show. But, as Joe explained in a podcast,[1] legal issues couldn't get resolved and he wasn't able to get permission to use the samples. Joe then removed the sounds from the song and called it "Crowd Chant."

Discography

He has also composed many songs that are featured in the video game NASCAR 06: Total Team Control.

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