Few guitarists inspire like Jeff Beck.

I don’t believe there’s any such thing as a “best” musician. Such an opinion is entirely subjective, and arguing about it is a complete waste of time.

But if you ask me about my favorite guitarists, I give the same answer. I love Jimi Hendrix for motivation, Adrian Belew for innovation, and Jeff Beck for expression.

Jeff could make his guitar talk, scream, wail, cry, howl, sing, and God-knows what else. The exploration of his discography is one new discovery after the next.

I got to see Jeff live once at The Pageant in St. Louis. The club held about 1,500 people. I always joke that the floor was tilting forward from the weight of 1,500 guitarist leaning in so they could look at Jeff’s hands in an attempt to figure out how he did what he did. We all went home clueless and disappointed.

When people talk about Jeff, I almost always hear them discuss albums like Blow by Blow, Wired, or Beck, Bogert, & Appiece To be certain, each is a classic and an essential part of your Beck collection.

But to my mind, not nearly enough is said about Jeff’s records from 2001 until his passing. Jeff basically eschewed his prior works and was inspired by the sounds of the time.

The Jeff Beck of the 21st century embraced electronica, digital soundscapes, drum and bass, and many other forms of modern music. A lot of his musicians, like bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, also brought youthful energy to Jeff’s music.

This is why I’m much quicker to go to this era of Jeff when I feel like playing one of his records. The classics get their day, but I’d say the ratio is three or four to one.

With that in mind, I assembled a playlist of the music Jeff Beck made in the 21st century. It’s one of my favorite playlists.

Thanks for the inspiration, Jeff. Rest easy.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1IORBBtWuPcLJdI5gvBikO?si=XenKbzWOQme-TGWqCWkZPA&pi=ah3nCfxCTpifv

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