Beck makes six-string conversation at Ruth Eckerd Hall

The violin is revered for its similarity to the human voice. Perhaps some adventurous composer will one day write a concert for Jeff Beck's Fender Stratocaster.

Like the violin, Beck's guitar can sing and cry. It can also fume, growl, laugh, threaten, curse and console.

More than any of the other '60s guitar heroes, Beck speaks solely through his guitar, and he had plenty to say Friday night at Ruth Eckerd Hall, the first of a sold-out, two-night stand.

Beck opened with the moody "Plan B" before quickly upping the intensity level with Billy Cobham's "Stratus." This was the only time during the evening when Beck's playing was eclipsed – drummer Narada Michael Walden brought the song to a conclusion with a solo of head-spinning power.

"Led Boots," an FM radio favorite from 1976's "Wired" was up next. Its mix of rock bombast, jazz complexity and gritty funk was Beck's signature sound to a generation of fans who came of musical age in the mid-'70s.

It was on "Corpus Christi Carol," though, that Beck moved from playful ferocity to jaw-dropping brilliance. Palming the guitar's volume knob to create a violin-like effect, and manipulating the tremolo bar to raise and lower notes, he turned the song, a vocal highlight for Jeff Buckley on 1994's "Grace," into a powerful and eerily beautiful instrumental.

Beck worked similar magic later in the set on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the show-closing version of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma."

Beck was heartbreakingly beautiful on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready," lovely on Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" and vicious on "Hammerhead." "Blue Wind," another "Wired" gem, highlighted some of Beck's most giddily violent playing, all the more incredible considering he long ago did away with guitar picks.

The only slip was the use of prerecorded vocals on "How High the Moon," Beck's tribute to Les Paul, and the only song on which he played his hero's namesake Gibson.

Hearing Mary Ford's disembodied voice was distracting. Besides, if Beck's playing can replace the vocals of Buckley and Judy Garland, surely he could find a way to match Ford's.

Opening act Tyler Bryant returned to the stage during Beck's encore to trade licks on Sly & the Family Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher." Bryant made a strong impression during his own set, for both his red-hot guitar playing and for his enthusiastic and engaging stage presence.

cross@tampatrib.com

(813) 259-7568