Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes Live at the Greek MusicMaker.com

The 1997 release of the long-awaited BBC Sessions proved conclusively that, with very few exceptions, no live rock outfit has ever been as powerful as prime-time Led Zeppelin. It was also a bit disconcerting; who, after all, could ever hope to repeat the power of those Jimmy Page cannonball riffs that launch "Out on the Tiles," "Whole Lotta Love," and "Heartbreaker"?

Jimmy Page, that's who. Since the band's 1980 breakup (following the death of drummer John Bonham), Page has offered the Zeppelin nation a few tidbits here and there, including an out-of-tune one-shot at Live Aid in 1985 (with Phil Collins on drums), and his more successful tours with Robert Plant in the mid-to-late 90s. If Page wanted to attempt a full-scale revival of the Zeppelin repertoire, he just never found a band capable of pulling it off-that is, until now.

Since they hit the music scene in 1990, the Black Crowes have sworn loudly and proudly their allegiance to Zeppelin. That Page would solicit the Crowes' services for a one-shot charity show last year made perfect sense; when the band asked Page to complete the deal with a quickie tour last fall, the 56-year-old legend went for it.

Recorded during the tour's final night at L.A.'s Greek Theater, Live at the Greek (which is available only via the MusicMaker.com Web site) effectively recaptures the jaw-dropping power of early-'70s Zeppelin. Rather than simply offering a cloying tribute act, the Crowes add their own stamp to classics like "Heartbreaker," "You Shook Me," and "What Is and What Should Never Be." The result is a leaner and better-oiled Zeppelin (the repertoire is primarily Page's; legalities prevented the inclusion of any Crowes originals). Drummer Steve Gorman seems to have tuned his snare precisely to Bonham pitch, and damned if Sven Pipten doesn't nail every essential note of John Paul Jones's bass figures. But when vocalist Chris Robinson and crew dramatically pull up the volume just before the final chorus of "What Is and What Should Never Be," it's obvious that theirs is no Zeppelin-by-numbers act-this is one for the ages.

For Page, whose flying digits show no signs of impending retirement, the comeback with the Crowes was particularly sweet. Working up "Whole Lotta Love" may have been a no-brainer, but replicating a multiguitar opus like "Ten Years Gone" suddenly became possible, thanks to the able support of extra hands. Audley Freed's thick rhythms add the right ambient touch, and Rich Robinson, who doubles Page on "Heartbreaker," becomes the guitarist's right-channel alter ego on the Peter Green tribute "Oh Well." -David Simons

Rating (out of 5): 4

Chucho Valdes Chucho Valdes Live at the Village Vanguard Blue Note Records

Passion is the cornerstone of Chucho Valdes's music. The Cuban pianist's work, which explores the African roots of both Cuban music and American jazz, shimmers on this CD, recorded live in the venerable New York club that's been the setting for some of jazz's most memorable performances.

Valdes's recording career spans nearly 40 years. In the early '70s, he founded the Cuban jazz-fusion ensemble Irakere. In 1997-with American trumpeter Roy Hargrove-he cofounded Crisol. On this, his second live album as a leader, Valdes features his quartet (including Francisco Rubio Pampin, bass; Raul Pineda Roque, drums; and Roberto Vizcaino Guillot, percussion). Recorded over two evenings in April 1999, the material on Live at the Village Vanguard mixes Valdes's original compositions with jazz and Cuban standards. Throughout, he demonstrates how much the disparate styles have in common as they merge in seamless, fascinating, and sometimes startling ways. Afro-Cuban, jazz, gospel, and classical European sounds pour out of Valdes's piano in torrents, almost simultaneously.

The quartet explodes out of the gate with the pianist's composition "Anabis," opening with a series of rapid-fire unison figures that give way to a swinging jazz melody. Valdes displays his virtuosic piano style in a solo that is by turns delicate and agitated. Pineda's powerful (if brief) drum solo is a highlight. On "Son XXI," Valdes plays adventurous jazz and classical excursions above the tune's slow, very traditional Cuban rhythms. "Punto Cubano" is a jovial 6/8 and 3/4 composition that evokes the spirit of Vince Guaraldi's classic hit "Cast Your Fate to the Wind," with classical flourishes. Valdes offers an intriguing rendition of Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine," set as a Cuban danzon (a romantic style from the 19th century that resembles a tango). "To Bud Powell" pays tribute to the late legendary bebop pianist and composer. As guest vocalist on "Drume Negrita," Valdes's sister, Mayra Caridad Valdes, wows the audience by adding her soaring alto voice to some very funky backing from the quartet.

Fans of Afro-Cuban jazz aren't the only ones who will find this music a treat-it transcends style. The band couldn't be tighter; the music percolates with joy. This album presents one of the great pianists of our time at the top of his game.-Matt Gallagher

Rating (out of 5): 4.5

BR5-49 Coast to Coast Arista

Although BR5-49 is most certainly a country band, their music bears little resemblance to Nashville's current commercial sound. This hip five-piece combo, whose members have been playing together since the early '90s, blends a large dose of retro country with rock, rockabilly, blues, and swing to create a refreshing, high-energy sound. Coast to Coast is the band's fourth effort on Arista. It's also BR5-49's second live release (the other was an EP titled Live from Robert's), a good indicator that the band is right at home onstage.

Coast to Coast-recorded at five different locations during BR5-49's summer 1999 tour-offers a nice mix of originals and cover tunes. The former include "Even If It's Wrong," a live version of a song that originally appeared on the BR5-49 CD, as well as the infectious shuffle "Tell Me Mama." BR5-49's songwriters succeed at the difficult task of making their original tunes sound old enough to fit the band's retro style.

The eclectic collection of covers on Coast to Coast includes both obscure and standard tunes. The band handles them all with aplomb. Their approach is so authentic that they can even tackle the hackneyed classic "Six Days on the Road" and make it sound fresh. They also play songs by Gram Parsons ("Big Mouth Blues"), Don Gibson ("Sweet Sweet Girl"), Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan ("Brain Cloudy Blues"), and even an updated version of the Charlie Daniels novelty tune "Uneasy Rider," in which singer-guitarist Chuck Mead does a hilarious, fast-paced vocal. Also noteworthy is a stellar version of the old Clyde Otis tune "Cracker Jack."

Led by Mead's energized, rockabilly-flavored lead guitar and Don Herron's fiddle, lap steel, and electric mandolin, the band serves up some high-energy solos to go along with the lead vocals of Mead and Gary Bennett. The rhythm section-"Smilin'" Jay McDowell on upright bass and "Hawk" Shaw Wilson on drums-is solid throughout.

The CD also includes plenty of examples of Mead and Bennett talking and joking with the audience, both before and after songs, giving the listener a real sense of BR5-49's lighthearted stage demeanor. Coast to Coast is a fine effort by a fine band.-Mike Levine

Rating (out of 5): 4

Although Line 6 is probably best known for the Pod, its digital-modeling, direct-recording guitar processor, the company has also been producing modeling guitar amplifiers for a number of years. Recently, Line 6 revamped its popular Flextone series of amps and made them even more powerful. The new line consists of the Flextone II and the Flextone II Plus, as well as the 2 5 12, 100W, stereo Flextone II XL. All three combos provide updated counterparts to the amps in the original Flextone series.

The most significant improvement to the Flextone II series is that the amps now offer 32 different amp models-switchable from the front panel-rather than the original 16. In addition, users can now mix and match the amp models with the 16 speaker cabinet models, providing an even wider range of tonal possibilities.

Knobs and Switches The Flextone II XL's front-panel control surface bears a strong resemblance to the Pod's. It has the same volume and tone controls, and uses identical modeling algorithms. In Studio mode it functions essentially as a +4 Pod with a balanced output.

The II XL has a single 11/44-inch input jack. It also has a Master Volume knob, controls for Drive, Bass, Mid, Treble, Channel, Volume, Reverb, and FX Tweak, and two 16-way selector switches: Amp Models and Effects. So how do you get 32 amp models with just a 16-way switch? It's simple. The Tap (Hold) switch, which allows you to tap in tempos for delays and other effects, also serves as a modifier. When you hold down the Tap switch, most of the knobs and switches take on an alternate function (a newly added feature): the Amp Model switch can access an additional 16 amp models, and the Effects switch can select from 16 more cabinet models.

On the top of the front panel you'll find four Channel Select switches, labeled A to D, which can switch between four preset (or user-saved) settings. To the left of these is the Manual button-when activated, this makes the front panel knobs (which turn rotary encoders, not potentiometers) active at their visible settings. Otherwise, when you switch channels, the settings change to match the new channel, and the position of the knobs no longer indicates your settings. Only when you have turned a knob past its setting does it become active again. The only nondigital (and therefore nonprogrammable) knob on the front panel is Master Volume, which features a standard volume potentiometer.

Get Back If you look on the back of the amp, you'll see a great variety of connectors. It offers a stereo pair of XLR direct outs for audio output. Next to these is a two-position switch for toggling between Live mode (the normal mode of operation) and Studio mode. The latter disables the signal going to the internal speakers and adds Line 6's AIR processing, which optimizes the sound for direct-recording purposes. In Live mode, the direct outs switch to mic level and roll off some highs, optimizing them for feeding a P.A.

Other back-panel connectors include a pair of 11/44-inch speaker outputs that disable the internal speakers and allow you to use external cabinets (8z only) instead. If you want to use your own effects in addition to those in the amp, an effects loop is provided, consisting of a 11/44-inch mono send and a 11/44-inch TRS stereo return. The Flextone II XL also has a 11/44-inch headphone output for silent operation, a Foot Control input (see the sidebar "More on the Floor"), and a ground lift switch.

The MIDI In and Out jacks located on the back facilitate a wide variety of functions, such as switching between presets with program change commands, adjusting parameters with control change commands, and transferring sounds back and forth from a computer via system-exclusive commands. The amp includes a Flextone-only version of Emagic's Sound Diver editing software (Mac/Win), allowing users to edit patches on their computers and dump sounds into the amp. Line 6 even has some Flextone sounds posted on its Web site that you can download and dump into the amp. What's more, you can utilize the II XL's Tone Transfer capabilities to exchange patches with a Pod, a Pod-Pro, or another Flextone II.

Lots More Models The Flextone II XL's 32 amp models encompass a wide variety of amps, including various Fenders ('59 Black Face Deluxe, '52 Tweed Deluxe, '59 Bassman, '65 Twin); Marshalls ('90 JCM800, '68 Plexi, '65 JTM-45); Mesa/ Boogies ('85 Mark IIc, '95 Dual Rectifier, '94 Dual Rectifier Tremoverb Combo); Vox ('60 and '63 AC-30 and '63 AC-15); an '87 Roland JC-120; and various boutique amps from companies such as Matchless, Budda, Soldano, and Dumble. They also include a number of Line 6 models, both clean and overdriven.

As for the cabinet models, the II XL has 16 (if you count No Cab, designed for the Tube Preamp model for nonguitar applications). A selection of Fender, Vox, Marshall, Matchless, and Line 6 cabinet models is available in varying configurations from 1 5 8 through 4 5 12. Though each is preassigned to an amp model, you can mix and match them to create some interesting combinations. You could, for instance, assign the Marshall JCM800 model to a 1 5 8 Fender Champ cabinet, or a Roland JC-120 to a '59 Bassman cabinet.

Dialing for Effects Although the amp's built-in effects section isn't as flexible as a dedicated multi-effects processor, it sounds great and comes in quite handy. You can choose Compressor, Tremolo, Chorus (two varieties), Flanger (two varieties), Rotary Speaker, or Delay. The dual effects feature delay in combination with the other individual effects. Swell is also available, but only in combination with delay, and you can turn the Noise Gate on and off, but it has no control for threshold.

Because the Flextone II XL is a stereo amplifier, a number of the effects are in stereo (the delays are all of the ping-pong variety), although it's a little hard to tell through the speakers. When listening with headphones or using the direct outs in a recording situation, you'll find the stereo spread more noticeable.

The effects parameter options are functional but not deep. You'll have access to many more parameters with the included Sound Diver editing software. The FX Tweak knob controls one selected parameter per effect (except on the chorus and flanger effects, where the knob controls multiple parameters at once), and the Tap button, either by itself or in combination with FX Tweak, adjusts tempo-related parameters such as delay time, tremolo speed, and so forth.

Reverb, always available via its own knob, comes in two types-a modeled spring reverb and a digital room reverb. Both of these sound pretty decent. The II XL assigns one or the other to each amp model, and you can't swap them. Overall, however, the II XL has solid and usable effects.

On the Bandstand Naturally, the bottom line on a product of this type is the quality of its sounds. To check them out, I used the Flextone II XL in a number of live situations. Overall, the II XL's ability to emulate a variety of classic amps impressed me. Would any of these models win in a blind A/B test with the original? I doubt it, but on their own they're pretty convincing. I was particularly enamored of the Mesa/Boogie models, the black-faced Fender Deluxe model, and Brit Hi Gain, which re-creates a Marshall JCM800. As is true of most digital amps, the distorted models sounded more convincing than the clean ones.

When I cranked the amp in band situations (it had plenty of power to spare), I noticed that some models tended toward harshness in the high end. I also found that certain models exhibited an unrealistic graininess with the gain control set at low to moderate positions.

To get the most out of this amp, it's essential to use the optional Floor Board foot controller. Otherwise you have too many parameters to deal with, especially in live situations where you need to change settings quickly. Once you plug in the Floor Board, it gives you access-via footswitches and pedals-to many more sounds and features and transforms your setup into a sleek, easy-to-use, all-in-one amp and effects system.

I also tested the II XL as a recording device, and like its Pod cousin it worked perfectly. Using the XLR direct outs with the amp switched to Studio mode, I easily obtained a variety of excellent sounds.

Final Musings With the Flextone II XL, Line 6 has taken a good product and made it even better. It includes some very cool additions, such as front panel access to twice as many amp models, and the ability to mix and match cabinets. Giving alternate functions to the front panel knobs also constitutes a big improvement.

Is it as warm as a real tube amp? No, but then again, what digital amp is? If you're looking for a specific tube amp tone, you're probably better off going with the real thing-no matter how accurate the digital model, it's unlikely to ever equal the warmth of real tubes. But if you need a versatile amplifier that closely approximates the sounds of many classic amps-a task no tube amp can perform-you'll be very happy with the Flextone II XL.

Mike Levine is the editor of Onstage.

Inputs (1) 11/44 instrument, (1) 11/44 TRS stereo effects return Outputs (2) XLR direct, (1) 11/44 effects send, (1) 11/44 TRS headphone, (2) 11/44 speaker MIDI In and Out Amp Models 32 Cabinet Models 16 Effects 15 Dimensions 23.5 (W) 5 18 (H) 5 10.5 (D) Weight 47 lbs.

Line 6 Flextone II XL Digital Modeling Amplifier $1,199 Floor Board: $329.99 FB4: $99.99

Overall Rating (1 through 5): 4

PROS: Versatile. Accurate-sounding models. Excellent effects section. Cabinets can mix and match with amp models. XLR direct outs for recording.

CONS: Functionality limited without optional Floor Board controller. Some models sound harsh at loud volumes.

Contact: Line 6; tel. (805) 379-8900; fax (805) 381-4684; e-mail sales@line6.com; Web www.line6.com

The Flextone II XL accommodates one of two optional foot controllers. The FB4 ($99.99) is a small four-button footswitch that allows you to change between the four basic channels (just as the switches on the amp do) and tap tempos. The Floor Board ($329.99) is more costly, but it's well worth it.

One of the big advantages to using a Floor Board is that it gives you access to 8 additional preset banks, increasing the total number of available channels (presets) from 4 (what you get with the amp alone) to 36. It also has two built-in pedals: a volume pedal and a great-sounding wah-wah (the latter is available at all times via a toe switch).

The Floor Board has a built-in tuner and a tap tempo button. In addition, you can put it into Effect On/Off mode, which allows you to turn Distortion, Drive/Boost, EQ, Trem/Chorus, Delay, and Reverb settings on and off individually (you can only switch the effects included in a given preset). Together, the II XL and the Floor Board make a pretty awesome combination.