John Mayer
Continuum

THE REVIEW

I first saw John Mayer on the DVD of the "Crossroads Guitar Festival" organized by Mr. Clapton in 2004. The young man, after politely asking the crowd "can I play for a moment?", delivers a splendid blues ballad titled "City Love", complete with an intro of just guitar, which left me more than a little stunned by his touch sensitivity and guitar style reminiscent of none other than Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Galvanized by such a performance, I got the album under review, dated 2006, to see if the presentiment that I had found an artist I've been searching for so long corresponded to truth or not. Browsing through the booklet, the first thing that catches my eye is Mayer's collaborators: Steve Jordan on drums (Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, etc.) and Pino Palladino on bass (Paul Young, Eric Clapton, The Who, etc.), two old acquaintances that give me hope.

However, on the first listen, the album leaves me completely puzzled: the 12 tracks present themselves as a fusion of styles, music, and words where the absolute protagonist of the scene is the melody and no one else. In short, the first impression is that there is no trace of that guitar I so hoped to find.

But the first impression, as we know, is often wrong, and mine will certainly not be an exception. Indeed, once prejudices are set aside, it becomes clear that the strength of the album lies precisely in the melodies. Upon a more thorough listen, you can hear that the shadow of SRV is still very much present in the guitar licks, but John, despite an enviable mastery of the instrument, uses it sparingly because the purpose of the whole album is not to dazzle, but rather to "soothe".

The solos are measured, never intrusive, their blues origin perfectly suits ballads like "Slow Dancing In A Burning Room" and "Gravity", and give vitality to more rhythmic tracks like "Waiting On The World To Change" (first single) and "Belief", featuring Ben Harper as a rhythm guitarist. Mayer finally showcases his musician skills in the cover of Hendrix's "Bold As Love", faithful to the original but with a much more modern sound, where his voice does not make us miss the great Seattle guitarist.

And it's precisely the voice, soft and sinuous, that gently caresses the listener's ears and makes every emotion contained in every single track flow through their veins, supported by the round and warm arrangements of musicians aware of their qualities. And in the end, John Mayer is exactly this, a musician aware of his own qualities, who could be the undisputed master of his music but has instead chosen to be its servant. And considering the result, it seems to be a really wise choice.

Finally, I'll leave you with a phrase from Mayer printed beneath the credits inside the booklet that struck me a lot and which I believe largely reflects his vision of the musical world:

"If you're reading this with an instrument in your lap - get to work, and deep in it. We all need you." JM