Joe Satriani or "Satch" was born on the 15th of July 1956 in Westbury, New York. He is an American guitarist and former guitar instructor. He is heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. Since 1988, Joe has used his own signature guitar, the Ibanez JS Series, and a signature series amplifier, the Peavey JSX.
Joe Satriani was inspired to play guitar at age 13 and studied music with jazz guitarist Billy Bauer and with reclusive jazz pianist Lennie Tristano. The technically demanding Tristano greatly influenced Satriani's playing. Joe also began teaching guitar, with his most notable student at the time being fellow Long Island native Steve Vai.
When Steve Vai gained fame playing with David Lee Roth in 1986, Vai raved about him in several interviews with guitar magazines. In 1987, Joe’s second album Surfing with the Alien produced popular radio hits and was the first all-instrumental release to chart so highly in many years. In 1989, Satriani released the album Flying in a Blue Dream. The album sold well. "One Big Rush" was featured on the soundtrack to the Cameron Crowe movie Say Anything. "The Forgotten Part II" was featured on a Labatt Blue commercial in Canada in 1993. "Big Bad Moon", one of Satriani's few songs to feature his vocals, was a minor hit in late 1989.
In 1992, Satriani released The Extremist, his most critically acclaimed and commercially successful album to date. Radio stations across the country were quick to pick up on "Summer Song", while "Cryin'", "Friends" and the title track were regional hits. In late 1993, Satriani joined Deep Purple as a short-term replacement for departed guitarist Ritchie Blackmore during the band's Japanese tour. The concerts were such a success that he was asked to join the band permanently but declined, having just signed a multi-album solo deal with Sony, so Steve Morse took the guitarist slot in Deep Purple.
In 1996, he formed G3, a concert tour featuring three instrumental rock guitarists – originally Joe, Vai, and Eric Johnson. The G3 tour has continued periodically since its inaugural version, where Joe is the only permanent member, featured with a floating second and third member, including among others Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robert Fripp, Andy Timmons, Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, Adrian Legg and Paul Gilbert. In 1998 Joe Satriani recorded and released Crystal Planet, which went back to a sound more reminiscent of his late '80s work. Planet was followed up with Engines of Creation, one of his more experimental works featuring the 'Electronica' genre of music. During the subsequent tour, a pair of shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco were recorded in December 2000 and released as Live in San Francisco, a two-disc live album and DVD.
Over the next several years, Satriani regularly recorded and released new music, including Strange Beautiful Music in 2002 and Is There Love in Space? in 2004. In 2006 Satriani recorded and released Super Colossal and Satriani Live!, another two-disc live album and DVD recorded May 3, 2006 at the Grove in Anaheim, CA.
On August 7, 2007 Epic/Legacy Recordings re-released Surfing with the Alien to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release. This was a two-disc set that includes a remastered album and a DVD of a previously never-before-seen live show filmed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1988. Joe Satriani's newest album, titled Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock, was released in 2008.
It was revealed on May 29, 2008 that Satriani is involved in a new hard rock project with former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. The band, which will feature Hagar on vocals, Satriani on guitar, Anthony on bass and Smith on drums, is tentatively called "Chickenfoot" and is currently writing material and recording their debut album which is due out in 2009.
Joe Satriani is widely recognized as a technically advanced rock guitarist, and has been described as a virtuoso. He has mastered many performance techniques on the instrument, including Legato, two-handed tapping and arpeggio tapping, sweep-picking, volume swells, harmonics, and extreme whammy bar effects. One of his trademark compositional traits is the use of Pitch Axis Theory, which he applies with a variety of modes. During fast passages, Joe favours a technique known as legato (achieved primarily through hammer-ons and pull-offs) which yields smooth and flowing runs. He is also adept at other speed-related techniques such as speed picking (a rapid form of alternate picking) and sweep picking, but does not often use them.
Equipment
Joe Satriani endorses Ibanez's JS Series guitars, and Peavey's JSX amplifier. Both lines were designed specifically as signature products for him. However, Joe uses a variety of gear. Many of his guitars are made by Ibanez, including the JS1000, and JS1200. These guitars typically feature the DiMarzio PAF Pro (which he used up until 1993 in both the neck and bridge positions), the DiMarzio Fred (which he used in the bridge position from 1993 to 2005), and the Mo' Joe and the Paf Joe (which he uses in the bridge and neck positions, respectively, from 2005 to present day). The JS line of guitars is his signature line, and they feature the Edge Pro, which is Ibanez's exclusive vibrato system, although he's always used the Original Edge unit on his guitars. The guitar with which he was most often associated during the nineties was a chrome-finished guitar nicknamed "Chrome Boy" (this instrument can be seen on the Live in San Francisco DVD). However, the guitar used for most of the concert was in fact a lookalike nicknamed "Pearly", which featured Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates pickups.
Joe also uses a number of other JS models such as the JS double neck model, JS700 (primary axe on the self-titled CD and seen on the 1995 tour "Joe Satriani", which features a fixed bridge, P-90 pickups, and a matching mahogany body and neck), JS600 (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 amount 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. Joe has also played a red 7-string JS model, as seen in the "G3 Live in Tokyo" DVD from 2005.
Joe used Marshall for his main amplifier up until 2001, and his Peavey signature series amps, the Peavey JSX, thereafter. The JSX began life as a prototype Peavey XXX and developed into the Joe Satriani Peavey JRX signature model.
His effects pedals include the Vox wah, Dunlop Cry Baby wah, RMC Wizard Wah, Digitech Whammy, BOSS DS-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 2006 Super Colossal.
Although Joe Satriani endorses the JSX, he has also used many different amps in the studio when recording, including a Class-A 5-watt tube amp called the "Mini Colossal". Joe has his own line of Vox signature effects pedals designed to deliver his trademark tone plus a wide range of new sounds for guitarists of all playing styles and ability levels; a signature distortion pedal titled the "Satchurator", the "Time Machine" delay and the “Big Bad Wah” wah wah pedal.
More News on Joe Satriani's Gear Here:
Peavey JSX 50
Vox Satchurator
Vox Time Machine
In 2006, Satriani signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. Satriani has personally delivered instruments to children in the program through a charity raffle for the organization and, in common with Steve Vai, sits on its board of directors as an honorary member.