Joe Satriani has praised DEEP PURPLE for hiring fill-in guitarist Simon McBride to step in for Steve Morse, calling the Irish player’s recruitment “a great call” by the band. Satriani made his comments while speaking to Eonmusic about new album “The Elephants Of Mars”, which is due for release on April 8.

Morse’s temporary hiatus from the classic rock icons was announced on Thursday (March 31). In a statement, he said that his wife Janine is battling cancer and added that he hopes he can rejoin PURPLE on tour “after she gets a clean bill of health.”

Speaking to Eonmusic, Satriani applauded PURPLE for choosing McBride to fill in for Morse.

“Simon is a great call for that, so that’s really great,” he said; “I mean, the band is close to Simon, and Simon’s a great guitarist.”

Satriani was drafted into DEEP PURPLE to complete Japanese dates in December 1993, and stayed on for a European summer tour in 1994 following the abrupt departure of founder Ritchie Blackmore. However, he admitted that reprising his role wasn’t an option. “I think we all know, we’re on the same label now — earMUSIC — and they know quite well I’m in the middle of releasing a new album,” he told Eonmusic.

Finally, Joe wished his best to Janine Morse. “I saw that earlier this morning, and yeah, felt so sorry that Janine has to go through that,” Satriani said. He added: “We’re sending her all of our best wishes and hope she has a quick recovery.”

Eonmusic’s interview with Joe Satriani, where he talks about “The Elephants Of Mars”, working with Alice Cooper on “Hey Stoopid” and the fate of his prototype Ibanez Blackdog JS guitar, will be released next week.

Morse effectively took over Blackmore’s DEEP PURPLE slot in 1994 and has since been in the group longer than Ritchie.

In a 1997 interview, Blackmore stated about Morse: “I’m just glad they [DEEP PURPLE] found a guitar player to carry on because I thought I was going to be shackled to this band for the rest of my life. It was like a ball-and-chain thing, and luckily, they said, ‘Well, we found someone.’ ‘Thank God, I can get out!’

“I haven’t listened much [to DEEP PURPLE’s recent recordings]. I just know that Steve Morse [is a] brilliant player. I remember Steve Morse with the DIXIE DREGS; they’re fantastic.”

DEEP PURPLE’s latest album, “Turning To Crime”, came out in November via earMUSIC. The LP contains DEEP PURPLE’s versions of great rock classics and musical jewels — including songs originally recorded by Bob Dylan, FLEETWOOD MAC, Bob Seger, CREAM and THE YARDBIRDS — carefully chosen by each member of the band.

I’m here in Trinidad and Tobago, and I’ve been exploring the bass role from the perspective of my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, who were bought here as slaves from Africa. Looking back, there is no doubt whatsoever that my Trini roots helped shape the bass player I became, because T&T is a bass-centric place. Trinidadians might sing the bass line or melody, when it comes to recalling a favorite song. As a child, I, too, found myself constantly fascinated by whatever the drums and bass were doing.My family’s story is similar to many of African heritage from this hemisphere, whether from Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Brazil, St. Lucia, or the U.S. Throughout this collective history, the African diaspora, with little means or opportunity, they became accustomed to creating something from nothing. During slavery, our ancestors’ drums were not only used for ceremonies, but also as a form of covert communication, relaying messages to neighboring plantations about escapes and revolts. As a result, slave masters banned traditional drums. Thus began the quest to create homemade instruments from whatever they found: tools, kitchen utensils, bamboo trunks, washtubs, bottles, etc. Some musicians, such as the great Wilbur Ware, began their musical careers on homemade instruments—in his case, the gut-bucket-bass—and then transferred their unique approach to other instruments, like the double bass, as they became masters of metamorphosis.Perhaps one of the most amazing examples of ingenuity is the steel pan. In Trinidad, descendants of emancipated slaves, without instruments or the means to acquire them, made music with tuned bamboo trunks, 24″–60″ long, which players would bounce upon the ground and alternately strike with a stick. They formed Tamboo Bamboo orchestras to create rich tapestries of rhythm, similar to what would eventually become the classic calypso rhythm.The pitch from a well-tuned bass pan set is clear, defined, and deep, with lots and lots of low end, almost as if the pans had been miked and put through a giant bass stack.Later, orchestras slowly introduced more durable metal instruments, such as car brake drums, oil drums, kitchen pots, and biscuit tins. Around 1940, a musician named Winston Simon and some others had the innovative idea to repurpose 55-gallon oil drums—byproducts of T&T’s oil industry—by cutting and tuning them, thus creating the steel pan. This family of instruments would eventually cover the entire pitch gamut of a typical Western orchestra.Many innovations followed: raising the metal in places to produce more defined pitches, tuning the drums in a “spider” lattice of 5ths, making the pan concave so that more pitches could be accommodated, wrapping the playing sticks in rubber to give a wider dynamic range and more melodic tone, hanging the drums from mechanically isolated stands that allow the free vibration of the pan, etc.In 1951, the BBC broadcasted a concert featuring the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) that eventually reached millions across the globe, and the fascination with steel pan orchestras and Calypso music began. If you’ve ever heard a steel pan orchestra play, then you already understand just how awesome their sound can be. But, for me, it’s all about that bass!Bass pans are the largest in the steel pan family, consisting of no fewer than six tuned 55-gallon full-depth oil drums per player and covering a range from Bb1 to Eb3—approximately two-and-a-half octaves. The sound bass pans produce is far too awesome to describe in words, but if I were to search for one, it would be … bombastic! The undertone is metallic, but the pitch from a well-tuned bass pan set is clear, defined, and deep, with lots and lots of low end, almost as if the pans had been miked and put through a giant bass stack. With four to six sets per orchestra, these are the 808 of the steel pan world. As children, my parents took my siblings and I to the London Notting Hill Carnival, annually. At age 6, I even got to hear orchestras play in T&T! The shuddering sound of the bass pans, as what seemed like hundreds of steel pans played, was always the highlight of those trips. There’s still nothing like it—and this is without discussing the amazing costumes and dancers!Like the rest of the world, T&T was greatly impacted by the pandemic. This year will mark the third year that there will be few official carnival events. Understand that these orchestras set their clocks by the yearly occurrence of carnival: making new or repairing and tuning older instruments, training new players, selecting repertoire, and rehearsing. However, this trip may still have a slight silver lining. The word on the street is that some pan orchestras will be playing at “the Savannah” (a massive green field in the middle of downtown Port of Spain) tonight! It goes without saying that I will be there to bear witness.Bass pans may have begun life as abandoned oil drums, but through the enduring desire of a people to express themselves musically, they have become uniquely Trinidadian instruments.Trinidad All Stars – Woman On The BassA YouTube video won’t give you the full physical experience of standing in front of a steel pan orchestra, so you’ll have to use a little imagination, but this 1980 performance of “Woman on the Bass” by the Trinidad All Stars will give you an idea what it’s all about—and make you wanna dance!

In a new interview with SPIN, AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry reflected on his 2016 health scare when he collapsed onstage with his other band the HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, later citing dehydration and exhaustion. Asked if he was worried he wouldn’t be able to perform after that, Perry said: “It was really a bummer. I let the guys down. And also my family was there, which is even more important. It woke me up to the fact that I’m not bulletproof. I discovered some physical things that I had to adjust. My mother had cholesterol problems early on. You know, just certain medications I take, and others can’t. I mean, it was definitely a scare. But in my heart — and I’m saying that figuratively [laughs] — I knew I’ll be back on my feet playing.”

In November 2018, Perry was hospitalized following a performance with Billy Joel on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Only minutes after guesting with Joel, Perry experienced shortness of breath and was treated by paramedics.

In 2019, Perry said his 2016 collapse was caused by “over-the-top fatigue,” while his hospitalization after the Billy Joel concert happened because he “couldn’t get my breath and I had to sit down. The next thing I know I’m getting oxygen. They call it COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]. It’s caused from smoking for years.

“I quit smoking,” he added. “I haven’t had a drink since that night. I’ll be around for a while.”

Perry’s VAMPIRES bandmate Alice Cooper told Rolling Stone that Joe was exhausted when he fell ill at the 2016 gig at Brooklyn, New York’s Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk, and had not eaten in two days.

“I didn’t realize AEROSMITH only did two shows a week,” Alice said at the time. “Honestly, I just figured everybody was like me. I do five shows a week, and very physical shows. We were on our eighth show in 10 days. It was pretty brutal. I think [Joe] was dehydrated and basically exhausted. I talked to him before the show and he said, ‘I don’t think I’ve eaten anything in three days.’ I went, ‘Well, that’s not smart.'”

As previously reported, AEROSMITH will bring its residency back to Las Vegas this summer. “Aerosmith: Deuces Are Wild” heads to Dolby Live at Park MGM for 24 dates beginning Friday, June 17. According to a press release, the show will be the first live concert experience presented in Dolby Atmos at Dolby Live. Dolby Live is one of the world’s most technologically advanced performance venues for enjoying live music in Dolby Atmos.