In a recent chat with Brian Casey of the 93.5 Max radio station, Jason Bonham said the guitarist of his Led Zeppelin Evening show has the feeling of Jimmy Page.
The drummer revealed they are still doing the shows after 14 years because it gives him a therapeutic feel. They try to stay true to Led Zeppelin’s music as Bonham said:
“We had an insurgence of… one is a guitar player called Mr. Jimmy [Japanese musician Akio Sakurai] that came to the band in 2017. And his knowledge and his tone and the whole thing has really made all of us, like, we have to suddenly… He knew way more than me. It was great for us. It was a time that we needed to if we were gonna continue on, he came in and just brought the joy back. It’s been a wonder.”
Bonham Has A Guitarist That Can Replace Page
He continued, referring to Mr. Jimmy’s guitar-playing skills:
“His ability to take you to those places where, as I said, the guitar, the way Jimmy Page used to play it, it was like he’d make it sound — and it wasn’t easy to do that. It was a struggle, and it was a conversation you had with the guitar that was making it do it, and the guitar would fight back.”
Mr. Jimmy Studied How Page Plays
Jason also talked about how Mr. Jimmy captures the feel of Page’s playing:
“And that’s the thing — you get players that can play all those runs, they make it sound too easy. That’s not what Jimmy and Led Zeppelin were about. It’s the feel. So, yeah, to find somebody that studied Jimmy, and only studied them like the Japanese can — they studied their subjects and their masters — and they go, ‘This is what they do.’ And it’s a wonder to watch him do that.”
The band’s name was Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience before renaming it to Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening. The drummer formed it in 2009 to pay tribute to his late father, John Bonham. The band is currently on its 12-city North American tour which started on April 16 in Montreal. It will end on May 3 in Portland.