Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani has given guitar lessons to Steve Vai and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, received 14 Grammy nominations for Best Instrumental Performance, and is the sole non-rotating member of the technical guitarist’s cabal G3—he’s no slouch when it comes to six-string virtuosity. Where that virtuosity crosses over to cartoonish excess is a matter of taste, but Satriani albums like 1987’sSurfing With The Alien and 1989’s Flying In A Blue Dream will continue to inform thousands of drooling guitar players just the same. If they can get past the title of Satriani’s latest opus, Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards, they’ll find their chrome-domed hero sailing to further, chops-valuing intergalactic destinations.

Updated 01/06/2011