It's pretty interesting that certain musicians, especially
Morrison, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, have not only
continued but actually increased their production of albums in the last
few years, as they all advance in age. Not wanting to go quietly, rest
much, or get off the road, they have all abandoned the notion of
spending long periods in the studio, and instead record quickly,
allowing them so many releases. For Morrison, this is his third full
album in less than nine months, nothing complicated, but certainly the
work of a master performer.
For this release,
Morrison partners with the jazz organist/trumpter Joey Defrancesco.
Well, I say jazz but like Morrison, he's also a
blues/R'n'B/swing/whatever player, and that's where Van the Man has been
grooving for the most part the last couple of decades. Defrancesco has
become the dominant jazz organist during that time, so it's a
partnership that's a natural. And Morrison has always played well with
an organist, especially his lengthy stint with Georgie Fame on disc and
stage.
Much like jazz recordings of the
'50's, the session was set up, the players assembled, the songs picked,
no muss, no fuss. There are some classic covers, including Miss Otis
Regrets and Everyday I Have The Blues, and the rest are Morrison
originals. Not new ones, but rather tunes from his very lengthy catalog.
They go back all the way to Astral Weeks' The Way Young Lovers Do,
right up to numbers from this century, including the acerbic Goldfish
Bowl, Morrison's declaration that he isn't doing this for fame, and
hates all those industry people staring at him and stealing from him.
Wisely he stays away from the best-known stuff, no Moondance, Domino,
etc., and instead goes for very deep cuts such as Celtic Swing from
1983's Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment