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Joe Satriani | |
|---|---|
 Satriani performing in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Satch |
| Born | Joseph Satriani (1956-07-15)July 15, 1956 (age 69) Westbury, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | satriani |
Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)[1][2] is an Americanrock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in his career he worked as a guitar instructor, with many of his former students achieving fame, includingSteve Vai,Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt,Kirk Hammett,Andy Timmons,Charlie Hunter,Kevin Cadogan, andAlex Skolnick. Satriani went on to have a successful solo music career, starting in the mid-1980s. He is a 15-timeGrammy Award nominee and has sold over ten million albums, making him the bestsellinginstrumental rock guitarist of all time.[3]
In 1988, Satriani was recruited byMick Jagger as lead guitarist for his first solo tour.[4] Satriani briefly toured withDeep Purple, joining shortly after the second departure ofRitchie Blackmore, in 1993.[5] He has worked with a range of guitarists during theG3 tour, which he founded in 1995.[6] Satriani has been the guitarist for thesupergroupChickenfoot since joining the band in 2008.
Satriani was born to an Italian-American family inWestbury, New York[1].[7][8][9][10] His paternal grandparents were fromPiacenza andBobbio, while his maternal grandparents were fromBari.[11] He was raisedRoman Catholic.[12] He was inspired to play guitar at age 14, after hearing of the death ofJimi Hendrix.[13] Satriani heard the news during football practice, where he then announced to his coach that he was quitting to become a guitarist.[14]
Satriani graduated fromCarle Place High School.[15] In 1974, he studied music withjazz guitaristBilly Bauer and with reclusive jazz pianistLennie Tristano. The technically demanding Tristano greatly influenced Satriani's playing. He began teaching guitar, with his most notable student at the time being fellowLong Island nativeSteve Vai (who also went to Carle Place). While he was teaching Vai, he was attendingFive Towns College for studies in music. In 1978, Satriani moved toBerkeley, California, to pursue a music career. Soon after, he resumed teaching. His students includedKirk Hammett ofMetallica,[16]David Bryson ofCounting Crows,Kevin Cadogan fromThird Eye Blind,Larry LaLonde ofPrimus andPossessed,Alex Skolnick ofTestament, Rick Hunolt (ex-Exodus), Phil Kettner ofLȧȧz Rockit,Geoff Tyson ofT-Ride,Charlie Hunter, andEmit Bloch.[citation needed]
Satriani started playing in a San Francisco-based band called Squares, which he formed with his brother-in-law Neil Sheehan in the late 1970s.[17] He was later invited to jointhe Greg Kihn Band, who were on the downside of their career, but whose generosity helped Satriani pay off the overwhelming credit card debt from recording his first album,Not of This Earth, released in 1986.[18] The same year, he also sang backing vocals on the self-titledCrowded House album.[19]
In 1987, Satriani's second album,Surfing with the Alien, produced radio hits and was the first all-instrumental release to chart so highly in many years. The track "Crushing Day" was featured on the soundtrack of a low-budget film titledIt Takes Two.[20] In 1988, Satriani helped produce the EPThe Eyes of Horror for thedeath metal bandPossessed. That same year, he also released an EP titledDreaming #11, which featured the song "The Crush of Love". In 1989, Satriani released the albumFlying in a Blue Dream. It was said to be inspired by the death of his father, who died in 1989 during the recording of the album. "One Big Rush" featured on the soundtrack to theCameron Crowe movieSay Anything.... "The Forgotten Part II" was featured on aMolson Dry commercial in Canada in 1993. "Can't Slow Down" featured in a car chase sequence in theDon Johnson-starring showNash Bridges.
In 1992, Satriani releasedThe Extremist, his most commercially successful album to date. The album was certified Gold in the United States and peaked at number 22 on theBillboard 200.[21] Radio stations across the US picked up "Summer Song", which got a major boost whenSony used it in a major commercial campaign for theirDiscman portable CD players. "Cryin'", "Friends", and the title track were regional hits on radio. In late 1993, Satriani joinedDeep Purple as a temporary replacement for departed guitaristRitchie Blackmore during the band's Japanese tour. The concerts were a success, and Satriani was asked to join the band permanently, but he declined, having just signed a multi-album solo deal with Sony, andSteve Morse took the guitarist slot in Deep Purple.[22]
In 1996, Satriani foundedG3, a concert tour intended to include a rotating trio of guitarists. The original lineup featured Satriani, Steve Vai, andEric Johnson. The G3 tour has continued periodically since its inaugural version, with Satriani the only permanent member. Other guitarists who have performed in G3 includeYngwie Malmsteen,John Petrucci,Kenny Wayne Shepherd,Robert Fripp,Andy Timmons,Uli Jon Roth,Michael Schenker,Adrian Legg,Paul Gilbert,Steve Morse, andSteve Lukather. In 1998, Satriani recorded and releasedCrystal Planet, followed byEngines of Creation, one of his more experimental works featuring theelectronica genre. Two shows at theFillmore West in San Francisco were recorded in December 2000 and released asLive in San Francisco, a two-disc live album and DVD.
Satriani releasedStrange Beautiful Music in 2002 andIs There Love in Space? in 2004. In May 2005, the musician toured India for the first time, playing concerts inDelhi,Kolkata, andMumbai. In 2006, he recorded and releasedSuper Colossal andSatriani Live!, another two-disc live album and DVD recorded May 3, 2006, at the Grove inAnaheim, California. In 2006, Satriani signed on as an official supporter ofLittle Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in underserved public schools throughout the US. The artist has personally delivered instruments to children in the program through a charityraffle for the organization, and like Steve Vai, sits on its board of directors as an honorary member.[citation needed]
On August 7, 2007, Epic/Legacy Recordings re-releasedSurfing with the Alien to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its publication. This was a two-disc set that includes aremastered album and a DVD of a never-before-seen live show filmed at theMontreux Jazz Festival in 1988.[23] Satriani's next album,Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock, was released on April 1, 2008.[24]
On May 29, 2008, Satriani revealed that he was joininghard rock supergroupChickenfoot, composed of formerVan Halen membersSammy Hagar andMichael Anthony, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.[25] They released their debut, self-titled album on June 5, 2009.[26] A second album, titledChickenfoot III, followed on September 27, 2011.[27]
On December 4, 2008, he filed acopyright infringement suit againstColdplay in theUnited States District Court for the Central District of California. Satriani's suit claims that the band's song "Viva la Vida" includes "substantial original portions" of the Satriani song "If I Could Fly" from his 2004 album,Is There Love in Space? The Coldplay song in question received twoGrammy Awards.[28] Coldplay denied the allegation.[29][30][31] The case was dismissed in September 2009,[32] with each party paying their own trial costs.[33]
The artist released a live DVD recording of a concert in Paris titledLive in Paris: I Just Wanna Rock and a companion two-CD set on February 2, 2010.[34] In March 2010, he participated with other guitarists in the Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour, performing music written and inspired byJimi Hendrix.[35][36]
In May 2010, Satriani announced he was about to enter the studio to record a new album, and dates were released for an autumn tour. He also said that demos had been recorded for a second Chickenfoot record. Satriani released his 13th studio album,Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards, on October 5, 2010.[37]
He issued the DVD/Blu-ray of his three-dimensional concert filmSatchurated: Live in Montreal on April 24, 2012, after its limited showing in theaters. The film was shot in December 2010 inMontreal and was directed by award-winning filmmakers François and Pierre Lamoureux.[38]Satchurated 3D is the first Blu-ray concert film available withDolby TrueHD 7.1.[citation needed]
On May 7, 2013, Satriani released his 14th studio album, titledUnstoppable Momentum.[39] A career retrospective box set titledJoe Satriani: The Complete Studio Recordings, which contains remastered editions of every studio album fromNot of This Earth toUnstoppable Momentum was released on April 22, 2014. A book titledStrange Beautiful Music: A Memoir was also published, to coincide with the release of the box set.[40]
In August 2014, Satriani participated in the G4 Experience—a weeklong guitar camp—with fellow guitaristsPaul Gilbert andAndy Timmons, and keyboardistMike Keneally.[41]
In February 2015, the first dates were announced for the Shockwave World Tour, in support of Satriani's 15th studio album, slated for release in July.[42]Shockwave Supernova was released on July 24, 2015. The album was conceived after Satriani found himself playing guitar with his teeth a lot during theUnstoppable Momentum tour, and had a daydream about an alter ego, "Shockwave Supernova", making him do it.[43]
On September 16, 2017, Satriani teased his upcoming 16th studio album,What Happens Next, through social media. The album was released on January 12, 2018. He collaborated with former Deep Purple bassistGlenn Hughes andRed Hot Chili Peppers drummerChad Smith, twoRock and Roll Hall of Fame members.
On April 5, 2019, the guitarist released an eponymous retrospective collection of songs he had recorded in the 1970s with his band Squares.[44] The following April, he published his seventeenth solo album,Shapeshifting.[45]
On January 19, 2022, Satriani released "Sahara" as the first single from his eighteenth album,The Elephants of Mars. The record was released on April 8, 2022, byearMUSIC, making it Satriani's first since his1995 self-titled album to be released by a label other thanEpic Records or its parent company,Sony Music.[46]
In late 2022, Satriani announced a continuation of hisG3 touring project, under the titleG4 Experience V6.0, which took place on January 3–7, 2023. The event was led by Satriani, together withPeter Frampton—among his final performances before retirement,[47]Steve Lukather, andSteve Morse, and included workshops and jam sessions led byAlex Skolnick,Andy James,Cory Wong,Eric Gales,John 5,Mateus Asato, andNili Brosh.[48]
In early 2024, Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson embarked on a limited-run "Reunion" tour of the original G3 lineup.[49] Subsequently, Satriani and Vai continued touring as a double bill under the name SATCHVAI Band.[50] After more than fifty years of professional and personal friendship, the pair wrote and recorded their first single together, "The Sea of Emotion, Pt.1", which was released on March 29, 2024.[51]
In May 2008, Satriani joined hard rock supergroupChickenfoot, composed of formerVan Halen membersSammy Hagar andMichael Anthony, andRed Hot Chili Peppers drummer,Chad Smith. The band features Hagar on vocals, Satriani on guitar, Anthony on bass, and Smith on drums.[25] Their eponymousdebut album was released on June 5, 2009.[26] The first single and video released was the track "Oh Yeah", which was played onThe Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on June 5, 2009. Satriani received a co-writing credit on all the songs on the band's debut album.[52]Broken Records magazine asked Satriani about his new band, and he enthusiastically mentioned, "it was great fun" and it gives him a "kick in the music bone" to play with such great talent. He said it felt natural to step back and play more rhythm than solo guitar. Chickenfoot's second album,Chickenfoot III, was released on September 27, 2011.[27] The album's first single was the track "Bigfoot".
Satriani is credited on many other records, including onBlue Öyster Cult's 1988 album,Imaginos,Alice Cooper's 1991 album,Hey Stoopid,Spinal Tap's 1992 album,Break Like the Wind, and on band membersStu Hamm andGregg Bissonette's solo works. He was credited with singing backing vocals on the 1986 debut album byCrowded House. In 2003, he played lead guitar onthe Yardbirds's releaseBirdland. In 2006, he made appearances on tracks for Deep Purple vocalistIan Gillan's solo CD/DVD dual disc,Gillan's Inn.
OnDream Theater's 2007 album,Systematic Chaos, Satriani contributed spoken lyrics to the song "Repentance". He also contributed a guitar solo toJordan Rudess' 2004 solo release,Rhythm of Time. He composed much of the soundtrack for the racing video gameNASCAR 06: Total Team Control,[53] while his song "Crowd Chant" was featured inNHL 2K10[54] andMadden NFL 11.[55] In 2009, he played two characters inseason three ofAdult Swim'sMetalocalypse.[56]Satriani has starred in several movies, including the 2006 Christopher Guest filmFor Your Consideration, as the guitarist in the band that played for the late-night show.[57] He appeared as himself in the filmMoneyball, playing "The Star-Spangled Banner".
TheAmerican Dad! episode "Why Can't We Be Friends" featured the song "Always with Me, Always with You".[58] The song was also sampled in theNicki Minaj single "Right Thru Me".
Satriani joined Chickenfoot in voicing themselves in theAqua Teen Hunger Force episode "IAMAPOD".[59]
Satriani is considered a highly technical guitarist,[60] and has been referred to as a top guitarvirtuoso.[61][62] He has mastered manyplaying techniques on electric guitar, includinglegato, two-handedtapping andarpeggio tapping,volume swells,harmonics, and extremewhammy bar effects. Duringfast passages, Satriani favors a legato technique (achieved primarily throughhammer-ons andpull-offs) that yields smooth and flowing runs. He is also adept at other speed-related techniques such as rapidalternate picking andsweep picking.[63]
Satriani was influenced byJimi Hendrix and by English rock guitarists such asBrian May,Eric Clapton,Jimmy Page,Ritchie Blackmore, andJeff Beck.[5][64] He was also influenced by jazz fusion guitaristAllan Holdsworth.[65]
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Joe Satriani" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Satriani endorsesIbanez'sJS Series guitars and theMarshall JVM410HJS amplifier. Both lines were designed specifically for him as signature products. The Ibanez JS1 (the original JS model) was based on, and replaced, the Ibanez 540 Radius model that Satriani first endorsed. Many of his guitars are made by the company, including the JS1000 and JS1200. These guitars typically feature theDiMarzio PAF Pro (which he used up until 1993 in both the neck and bridge positions), theDiMarzio Fred (which he used in the bridge position from 1993 to 2005), and the Mo' Joe and the Paf Joe (which he has used in the bridge and neck positions from 2005 to the present). He has more recently[when?] introduced the Satch Track single-coil pickup that he used in his humbucker/single coil-equipped signature Ibanez guitars. He has since replaced the Satch Track with the Sustainiac.
The JS line of guitars is Satriani's signature line, with the JS1000, JS1200, JS2400, JSBDG, and JS20th using Ibanez's original Edge double-locking tremolo bridge. The JS100 and JS120s both use Ibanez's Edge 3 tremolo bridge. The JS1600 is a fixed-bridge guitar with no tremolo system. The guitar he was most associated with during the 1990s was a chrome-finished guitar nicknamed "Chrome Boy". This instrument can be seen on theLive in San Francisco DVD. However, the guitar used for most of the concert was in fact a lookalike nicknamed "Pearly", which featuredSeymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups.
Satriani uses a number of other JS models, such as the JS double neck model, JS700 (primary axe on his self-titled CD, seen on the 1995Joe Satriani tour, which features a fixed bridge,P-90 pickups, and a matching mahogany body and neck), JS6/JS6000 (natural body), JS1 (the original JS model), JS2000 (fixed-bridge model), a variety of JS100s, JS1000s and JS1200s with custom paint work, and a large number of prototype JSs. All double-locking bridges have been the original Edge tremolo, not the newer models, which point to a more custom guitar than the off-the-shelf models. Satriani played a red 7-string JS model, seen in theG3 Live in Tokyo DVD from 2005. He also has a prototype 24-fret version of the JS, now called the JS–2400, which he has used with Chickenfoot. He has also used other prototypes featuring a Sustainiac or a JS model with three single coil-sized humbucker pickups.
Satriani has used a wide variety ofguitar amps, with Marshalls being his main amplifier (notably the limited-edition blue-colored 6100 LM model) up until 2001, and his Peavey signature series amps, the Peavey JSX, up until his time with Chickenfoot.
The JSX began life as a prototype Peavey XXX and developed into the Joe Satriani signature Peavey model. However, Satriani still used distortion pedals with the clean channel rather than the built-in overdrive channels. He has used other amplifiers over the years in the studio, such as the Peavey 5150 (used to record the song "Crystal Planet"), Cornford, and theMesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (used to record the song "Flying in a Blue Dream"), among others. He later switched to the Marshall JVM series, having used a modified JVM 410H in hisBlack Swans and Wormhole Wizards tour in 2010 and with Chickenfoot in 2010 and 2011.
These modified JVM Marshall amps were prototypes for a signature amp that Marshall scheduled for release in 2011. They replaced thereverb withnoise gates that eliminate lag when switching channels. The clean channel was replaced by the clean channel of a 6100 LM model, which Satriani likes as an option to usedistortion pedals with. The orange overdrive channel and the modern red overdrive channel have been better matched with each other as Satriani claims to prefer the organic overdrive of the JVM over pedals. The red overdrive channel was modified for a beefy rock rather than anu metal sound. The effect loop has been simplified to be serial only.
Satriani has used many amps in the studio when recording, including the Peavey Classic. He used Marshall heads and cabinets, including live, prior to his Peavey endorsement. Recently, he used the JSX head through a Palmer Speaker Simulator. He has released a Class-A 5-watt tube amp called the "Mini Colossal". In 2009, Satriani split from Peavey[66] and returned to using Marshall amps. Live, he has been using a Marshall JVM410JS[67] since 2009.[68][69]
Hiseffects pedals include theVoxwah,Dunlop Cry Baby wah, RMC Wizard wah,DigiTech Whammy,B.K. Butler Tube Driver,BossDS-1, Boss CH-1, Boss CE-2, Boss DD-2 and a standard Boss DD-3 (used together to emulate reverb effects), Boss BF-3, Boss OC-2, Barber Burn Drive Unit,Fulltone Deja Vibe, Fulltone Ultimate Octave, and Electro-Harmonix POG (Polyphonic Octave Generator), the latter being featured prominently on the title cut to his 2006Super Colossal. He has collaborated with Vox on a range of signature-effectstompboxes. These include the "Satchurator" and "Ice 9"[70] distortions, the "Time Machine" delay, and the "Big Bad Wah".[71]
Satriani's 2000 guitar rig has been documented in detail.[72]
Satriani's work frequently makes references to variousscience fiction stories and ideas. "Surfing with the Alien", "Back toShalla-Bal", and "The Power Cosmic 2000" refer to the comic book characterSilver Surfer, while "Ice 9" refers to the secret government ice weapon inKurt Vonnegut'sCat's Cradle. "Borg Sex" is a reference toStar Trek, which features acybernetic race known as theBorg. His albums and songs often have otherworldly titles, such asNot of this Earth,Crystal Planet,Is There Love in Space?, andEngines of Creation.
On the albumSuper Colossal, the song titled "Crowd Chant" was originally called "Party on the Enterprise". It would have featuredsampled sounds from theStarship Enterprise fromStar Trek. But as Satriani explained in apodcast, legal issues regarding the samples could not be resolved, and he was unable to get permission to use them.[73] He then removed the sounds from the song and called it "Crowd Chant". Its ending theme was inspired by composerGabriel Fauré's "Pavane in F-sharp minor, Op. 50".[74] The song is used as goal celebration music for a number ofNational Hockey League andMajor League Soccer teams, including theMinnesota Wild (NHL),New York Islanders (NHL), andNew England Revolution (MLS).[75] The song is also used in the2K Sports hockey video gameNHL 2k10.[76]
"Redshift Riders", another song fromSuper Colossal, is "...based on the idea that in the future, when people can travel throughout space, they will theoretically take advantage of the cosmologicalredshift effect so they can be swung around large planetary objects and get across [the] universe a lot faster than normal", according to Satriani.[77] On the albumProfessor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock, the song "I Just Wanna Rock" is about a giant robot on the run who happens to stumble upon a rock concert.[78]
Originated by the now-defunct magazineBAM in 1977 as the Bay Area Music Awards, the "Bammies" were expanded and renamed in 1998 to honor music across California.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Joe Satriani | Outstanding Guitarist[79] | Won |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Joe Satriani | The Maestro[80] | Won |
Satriani has the fourth-mostGrammy Award nominations (15, afterBrian McKnight,Snoop Dogg, andZubin Mehta) of any artist without winning.See further artists.[81][82]
| Year | Album | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | "Always With Me, Always With You" | Best Pop Instrumental Performance |
| Surfing with the Alien | Best Rock Instrumental Performance | |
| 1990 | "The Crush of Love" | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 1991 | Flying in a Blue Dream | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 1993 | The Extremist | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 1994 | "Speed of Light" | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 1995 | "All Alone" | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 1997 | "(You're) My World" | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 1998 | "Summer Song" (Live) | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 1999 | "A Train of Angels" | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 2001 | "Until We Say Goodbye" | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 2002 | "Always With Me, Always With You" (Live) | Best Rock Instrumental Performance fromLive in San Francisco |
| 2003 | "Starry Night" | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 2006 | Super Colossal | Best Rock Instrumental Performance |
| 2008 | "Always With Me, Always With You" (Live) | Best Rock Instrumental Performance fromSatriani Live! |
