Legendary guitarists Joe Satriani and Steve Vai will be performing a second benefit concert supporting music industry veteran and close friend, Cliff Culteri. “A Benefit for Cliff II” will take place on Sunday, July 10 at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. Special guests include Dweezil Zappa, Orianthi, Brendon Small, Tony MacAlpine and many more.
Cliff Cultreri is the A&R executive who ‘discovered’ Satriani and Vai, as well as many other popular recording artists, while working at Relativity Records and Koch Entertainment. Cultreri is suffering from a host of auto-immune and connective-tissue disorders that are simultaneously attacking his immune system, a 1 in 100 million occurrence that causes severe pain and physical debilitations.
During his years in the industry, Cultreri has served as A&R for a number of top names including Allan Holdsworth, Billy Sheehan & Talas, Peter Frampton, Megadeth, Corrosion Of Conformity, Exodus, Anthrax, Death, Venom, Slash's Snakepit, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, Modern English, Gene Loves Jezebel, Fat Joe, Common, Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony, 3-6 Mafia, KRS1, Beatnuts, C Murder, Kurupt, Soulja Slim, RZA, and many others in all genres of music.
In 2006, Satriani and Vai joined forces for the first Cultreri benefit show. They raised money as well as attention to the devastation this disease takes out on both the patient and their family.
I had the amazing opportunity to interview Joe Satriani about this upcoming event. We talked about his history as a legendary guitar player and the benefit concert, as well as the upcoming Chickenfoot album due out in October.
Satriani told me that his earliest influences include Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. As far as which musicians mostly influenced his style of playing, he said, “Jimmy Page is the most obvious, but in his heart, it is Jimi Hendrix.” He goes on to explain that “Hendrix was so original, so unique and it’s hard for someone to sound like him.” Satriani is a legend in his own right, and possesses his own original sound.
Many people may not know that Satriani’s first instrument was the drums. At the early age of 9, he began to play the drums. In his early teens, he gave up the drums for the guitar. He grew up listening to music of his older siblings, which included the music of the '60s. Satriani knew at a young age that music was his passion. On September 18, 1970, when Satriani was 14 years old, his life was changed forever; this was the day that Jimi Hendrix died. Upon hearing the news, he decided to devote his life to the guitar.
He moved to Berkeley, California in 1978 to pursue a career in music. During this time, he gave guitar lessons to many famous musicians to be including: Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Larry LaLonde (Primus) and Alex Skolnick (Testament), among many others.
I was fascinated to hear about his songwriting process. He talks at great length about his process, stating, “Songs come in all shapes and sizes.” He is sure to capture his inspiration no matter how it comes, and he uses many tools in order to accomplish this including his phone, laptop, ProTools, paper, whatever he has available to him at that moment. He explained that the important thing is “not to let the idea evaporate.”
We talked about what a huge impact Cliff Culteri has had on both his professional and private life. Satriani met Culteri through Steve Vai; this was at the time when Vai was signed, and Culteri was instrumental in helping Vai release his first album as a solo artist, Flex Able. He told the story that Vai called him and said, “If this guy is crazy enough to sign me, then he is crazy enough to sign you.”
He and Culteri had an immediate bond. Satriani describes him as “a unique personality, a sensitive person with great insights.” He told me that Culteri was the type of person who “understood what the artist wanted and he always played the advocate and championed an artist’s unique cause.” To this day, he and Culteri have remained very close friends, and they talk every week.
Both Satriani and Vai are dedicated to get Culteri closer to medical facilities in order to minimize the family’s costs. This will be a memorable event for all who attend. Not only will there be extraordinary performances, but there will be a live auction as the show as well. Items to be auctioned off include guitars from Satriani, Vai and Paul Gilbert, as well as several private collectables of these amazing musicians.
Satriani stays extremely busy. In addition to the upcoming benefit, he has also been working on a 3D film/DVD/CD project. It is a performance shot live in Montreal, and it is scheduled for theatrical release on September 23 on movie screens across the United States. With this being a 3D film, he talked about what an unusual process it was. He explained that the staging was very different and the band had to be rearranged on stage many times. He is very excited about this project, as this was the first time that he has had a five-piece band. Satriani promised that it “turned out fabulous,” and it was also shot in 2D as well so it could eventually be released on DVD.
The supergroup Chickenfoot also takes up a lot of his time. Chickenfoot consists of Joe Satriani (guitar), Sammy Hagar (vocals), Michael Anthony (bass) and Chad Smith (drums). The band members admit that the group came together almost as an accident. They started jamming at Hagar’s club in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This has undoubtedly been one of the best things that these four very talented musicians have done. The first album, called Chickenfoot, was released on June 5, 2009.
Satriani talked about the process of recording Chickenfoot's sophomore album (due out in October). Since each of the members is in a different location, he said that this “greatly enhanced creativity.” He explained that the band has spent so little time together, spending one day together a few weeks ago to record two songs. He spoke with Sammy recently, who said that this is “really an amazing record.” Chickenfoot will be performing select shows this fall, with hopefully more shows around February 2012. The band has to work around Sammy and Chad’s touring schedules.
Finally, I asked Satriani what he was currently listening to on his iPod and if there are any new artists who he is listening to currently. He told me that he “listens to a wide variety, including classical, jazz, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.” As far as new artists, he said that he is really into Animals as Leaders, as well as a talented jazz performer by the name of Hiromi.
There are no words to express what an amazing artist he is. Be sure to attend the benefit concert if you are in the Los Angeles area. Also, look for the upcoming Live in Montreal 3D film/DVD/CD release, as well as the Chickenfoot release this fall. On October 5, 2010, Satriani released his 14th studio album, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards. Be sure to check out the song “Light Years Away,” which is sure to be a favorite for any Satriani fan.
For more information, please visit Satriani's website: http://www.satriani.com and Chickenfoot's website: http://www.chickenfoot.us
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