Surprised to see Carmine!!

I recently went to see Joe Bonamassa in concert he and his band were amazing. I have not seen a show like this where the band rocked the house like these guys did.
Carmine Rojas the bass player I have been an avid fan of since 1979 and I have followed his musical career ever since.

I first saw him live with the German prog rock band Nektar in New York. He has played many genres of music throughout his musical career but Nektar was a far cry from his R&B/Latin and rock roots, however Carmine proved he was a versatile musician whose eclectic style would be a great foundation for any spectrum of music he played.

In 1983 David Bowie revived his 70's glam rock days with the album "Lets Dance". he embarked on the Serious Moonlight Tour, Carmine had played on the album and the songs Lets Dance, Modern Love, and China Girl were monster hits. The songs were striking because of Carmine's unique and funky bass lines and Stevie Ray Vaughns guitar solos were awesome. You were instantly in love when you heard the songs and the live show was phenomenal. The cast of characters on stage could not have complimented Bowie more.

This was the first time I saw Carmine where a skirt! still not sure if he is a cross dresser but this does not influence my respect and admiration for him as a musician. In 1987 Carmine returned to the stage for the Glass Spider Tour featuring Peter Frampton. After the successful tours with Bowie and other artists, various recordings in between live gigs, Carmine was once again on the move this time in a different musical direction.

He joined musical forces with Julian Lennon to go on the road to promote his albums "Valotte" and "The Secret Value of Daydreaming". Once again Carmine gave his unique style of playing which included a great reggae rift on "Too late for goodbyes" and a soulful sound to the ballad "Vallotte". Julian Lennon reminds me of his current tour mate Joe Bonamassa, both are extremely talented and having Carmine contributing to their music is an essential part of the successes that these artists experience.

After these successful tours Carmine joined one of Britain's well known bad boys Rod Stewart as his musical director. Carmine would be on the road for thirteen years with him. Stewart had a repertoire of music that spanned several decades from early blues, folk, rock, pop and of course his infamous ballads and crooning lovesongs which were Stewart's trademarks. Carmine performed many of the songs that were mega hits and this included The Unplugged album which featured many of these songs.

I saw several of the Rod Stewart shows and my favorite songs live were Passion, Infatuation and the older Faces songs which Carmine contributed his musical flair and uniqueness to give these songs a potency and drive which live were so impressive. His bass runs had the crowd on their feet dancing and grooving to the music.

Fast forward to 2007 and his current tour Joe Bonamassa. This band is unbelievable what a powerhouse of talent. It was a complete change to see Carmine on stage playing an intergrated mix of blues/soul and rock.

His years on the road and recording with different artists is showing a more mature bassist who has "come home". His musical roots define Carmine and Joe Bonamassa's music has resurrected his blues/soul roots to inspire the music that now composes and plays.

His musical past has come full circle and playing with Joe live Carmine is discovering a new newfound freedom to explore and play his music and to take it to a new level. His presence on stage reflects a happier and gratified musician who is very passionate about this music.
The musicians in Joe's band are incredible so much talent and each one compliments the other.

So great to see you back Carmine and where you belong.

For further info on Carmine visit allmusic.com once you enter the site there is a box marked go, put Carmine's name in and click on songs.

I am excited about the upcoming shown over the next few months on the East coast. Dates include Staten Island, Collingswood, New York, Morristown, West Hampton and Greensburg PA.

This is an awesome band live, a surreal experience at best!