by Jim Dorman
(The Jon Finn Group at Boston City Winery, Haymarket Lounge – December 7, 2025)
You may have seen Berklee guitar greats Jon and Juli Finn appear with their classic rock cover band the Experts, or No Static, the fine Steely Dan Tribute band they often play with. Both bands are fine opportunities to enjoy their considerable talents, but if you want to hear and watch them play their original music with a cast of key players, you will want to see them perform with the Jon Finn Group like they did on Sunday, December 7 in the Haymarket Lounge at Boston’s City Winery, where it was all about their complementary catalog of original guitar centric music.
Jon, long time performer and guitar professor at Berklee College of Music, and Juli, the former Berklee songwriting student, now assistant professor at both Berklee and Stonehill, pulled from each of their existing works while also showcasing several songs from their as yet unnamed upcoming Jon Finn Group and Juli Finn albums. With good friends, Blues Mob opening with their take on a collection of blues, R&B and rock classics, it proved to be a satisfying evening of music.
Fresh from their gig opening for the Steve Morse Band at the Somerville Theater in October, the band which also features Rich Cesarini on keyboards, Larry Finn (musical brother, but no relation to Jon and Juli) and Matt Pitts (ably subbing for the injured Joe Santerre) was ready to go as they launched into “FYB” (from the 1994 album “Don’t Look So Serious” and “Slane and Pimple” (upcoming release). Jon and Juli traded solos and harmoniously doubled the main themes over Pitt’s strong bass lines and Finn’s crisp drumming, during the former, and provided superb tension and release during the wonderful meanderings of the latter. You could really just get lost in the ebb and flow of their playing.
Three of the next four songs were Juli Finn compositions, which perfectly complements Jon’s instrumentals, which the band was known for before Juli joined the lineup. Jon and Juli recently celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary, but the band has been together since the early ‘90s.
“Blink of an Eye” is all about the changes that can come in life when, even if you think you are prepared, can be hard to deal with. Juli handles the vocals with her sweet, soulful and soothing voice and plays the rhythm while Jon provides some tasty accents before each trade solos before the upbeat conclusion. There are so many pleasing elements here.
“Dig Deep,” from Jon and Juli’s “Tribute” EP, a tribute to Bonnie Raitt, is Juli’s nod to Bonnie’s style and words, with a lovely slide intro, leads by both of course, and sweet piano accents by Cesarini.
After a couple of ballads, it was time for another scorching instrumental. Jon’s “Homeward” features great back and forth, crowd pleasing guitar leads from Jon and Juli reminiscent of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts from the Allman Brothers, where one player just seamlessly transitions to the other.
Next up was Juli’s haunting and heartbreaking “Desert Heart” which in addition to both Jon and Juli’s lovely playing, features some nice high backing vocals by Jon, and an appropriately restrained lead by Juli. It’s definitely a keeper.
And on it went with more of Jon’s phenomenal instrumentals, like “Two Monkees Jump Back,” “Space Puzzle” and “Countach.” If you like Jeff Beck or perhaps some great ‘70s progressive rock, you would love these. We also loved Juli’s beautiful ballads, “Necessary Scars,” a relatively new one, and “Shimmer and Glow” (great drumbeat by Finn). Both the instrumentals and ballads showcase Jon and Juli’s guitar skills, with lovely accents and counterpoint, super solos by both and often at just the right times, unison playing.
Just to cap things off, Jon and Juli expertly showed off Jon’s new instrumental “Latin Soup” that will make you want to salsa while the two play off each other to the catchy musica tropicale.
They concluded the evening with “When Ray Comes to Town,” Jon’s bluesy tribute to Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind” before inviting Steve Carro (Jon’s boyhood friend from Westwood) and Chuck Edgerly from openers Blues Mob to join them for a rousing rendition of Jeff Beck’s “Goin’ Down.” with everyone taking a solo.
Blues Mob, featuring Carro on vocals, Edgerly on lead guitar, Cesarini performing double duty on keyboards, Chip Hoyte on bass and Bob Pallucio on drums, dug deep into some ‘60s and ‘70s classics including, Cold Sweat (James Brown), Time of the Season (Zombies), Talk to Me Baby (Elmore James), Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin), The Letter (Box Tops/Joe Cocker), Hush (Deep Purple) and One Way Street (Aerosmith), setting the table nicely for the Jon Finn Group’s triumphant night at the City Winery.
www.julijulifinn.com
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