Celebrating nearly five decades of musical friendship, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have collaborated on music for the first time. “The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1” showcases the unmatched synergy between these two legendary guitarists as they seamlessly trade solo sections throughout the nearly six-minute opus.
Teaming up with Satch and Vai on the track are Eric Caudieux on keyboards, who also served as co-producer the song, with the rhythmic backbone provided by Matt Chamberlain on drums and Matt Bissonette on bass. The music video, directed by Z.Z. Satriani, takes this concept one step further with a whimsical look imagining what the beginning of that friendship might have looked and sounded like way back in the 70’s. Watch it below.
Of the inspiration behind the new song, Satriani commented, “When Steve and I decided the time had finally come for us to collaborate on an album I immediately thought of our humble beginnings, where we came from, and our teenage rock ’n’ roll hopes and dreams. To anybody else, it may look like just a field, part of the sprawling Carle Place Public School complex, but for some of us, back in the early ’70’s, when the sun went down and the moon came up, it became “The Sea of Emotion”.
“We would hang out there late at night and share our deepest thoughts with each other. For me and my closest friends, it was a magical place, this field right outside the back of the Rushmore gym. The memories we shared at that location so long ago became the inspiration for a musical journey in three parts. Each part of the song has little reminders of what we were so into musically back then, including a chord sequence that Steve and I would sometimes jam over during guitar lessons.”
Vai echoes the sentiment about their hometown, “This song, and its additional 2 parts, are inspired by a giant field outside the High School of the town Joe and I grew up in. As young teenagers, we would sit overlooking this magnificent field and wax on generously for hours about the meaning of life and many other deep, rich discussions, so we deemed this field, “The Sea of Emotion”. 50 years later, it has been memorialized in melody and groove.“
“Connecting with Joe on this track, and the other music we are working on, is perhaps the most rewarding musical collaboration I’ve ever engaged in. Although we’ve toured and recorded jams together through the decades, for this music we are intimately bringing together our melodic impulses and playing techniques and creating something that is bigger than the sum of its parts.”
Fans have been experiencing this new song live during the current “The Satch-Vai Tour” which launched on March 22 in Orlando, FL. The tour will continue hitting several cities before winding up in Santa Rosa, CA on May 12 with 38 shows in total. This tour also marks the first time that the long-time friends have joined together as a duo-bill.
