May/June 2001
Paul Brady, "Oh What A World," 2001
In the opening cut of Paul Brady's new CD, "Sea of Love", he poses a theme that
I can really relate to, as can probably all other 21st century inhabitants.
It's a variation on the observation that Jackson Browne so sagely made about
the dilemma of modern life in his 1976 song "The Pretender": How does one
reconcile the sometimes polarized needs for material comfort, love and family with
needs for personal creativity and challenge? Brady not only poses the dilemma,
he lays it bare and wrestles it to the ground... he in short crafts it into
a great tune that connects ("All I ever wanted was to be with you, But sometimes
I wonder how this dream can last, when the best part of me keeps sinking so
fast, Feels like drowning in a sea of love"). It's the kind of empathic
songwriting that has found Brady prolifically churning out material for other
nationally known artists all the while remaining little-known outside of his
native Ireland. He's penned songs for Bonnie Raitt (writing the title tune on
"Luck of the Draw", and "Not the Only One" on the same disc), Santana, Mark
Knopfler, David Crosby and countless others. One wonders why he sold away such great
songs when he's an excellent performer in his own right. The funny thing is that
he doesn't sound much like these artists, except on "Travellin' Light", a
Bonnie Raitt-sounding blues with Mick Taylor on slide guitar. "Love Hurts" sounds like a cross
between Willie Nelson and Stephen Bishop, "The Law of Love" like Supertramp,
"I Believe in Magic" like Mike and the Mechanics, and "Try Me One More Time" like
John Lennon. Brady dresses up a few of the songs with very tasteful and subliminal string
arrangements, most notably on "The Long Goodbye", a goosepimpling ballad that
is sure to put every listener through a bittersweet reliving of a failed relationship.
Paul Brady's been at this since 1965... "Oh What A World" is an excellent recording
to hopefully bring him his due.
Jason Dennie, "Just Enough," 2000
"Just Enough" might paraphrase what every good acoustic guitarist shoots for with
his art, although most aim a little too high or low, appearing either self-indulgent
and smug or amateurish. Jason Dennie, though, has nailed the sweet spot of what
solo fingerstyle guitar should be with all the refinement and self-assurance of a
Zen master. There's a sinusoidal and mantra-like feel to much of his work,
especially apparent on "Highland Dreams", "Celebration", "A Night so Bright",
and the percussive "Interplay" which not only engages but lulls. That's not to say
that Dennie's music is new age. His roots are firmly planted in bluegrass,
members of his family having performed with Bill Monroe when he was a kid. Sam Bush brings his
mandolin to join Dennie on "Five Points", tinging what is at first Celtic with
a flavor of bluegrass, and reminding me a bit of Dean Magraw. For a guy who never
picked up a guitar until after high school, Dennie was a quick study, prodigiously
performing as a solo guitarist within two years and most recently claiming the
2000 Gamble Rogers Championship for Fingerstyle Guitar. But tunes like "Picture
Wall Picture" show that Dennie also has the musical maturity to restrain this
award-winning virtuosity, using silence and pregnant pauses just enough to enhance the drama
of his divinely-inspired chordal voicings.
Rodney Waterman & Doug de Vries, "Água e Vinho," 2000
You may think of the recorder as an instrument which 5th grade schoolkids play en masse at a recital.
Don't be too hasty with that paradigm. Rodney Waterman elevates recorder music to heavenly and
stratospheric levels of artistry, and Doug de Vries follows him up there on equal artistic footing
on nylon-string guitar. The particular timbre of the recorder occasionally lends this duet music a medieval
and minstrel-like feel ("El Noi de la Mare", "Recercada Primero"), but the raging virtuosity and deftness
of speed of these two players can also result in a synergistic blastfurnace of sound out of proportion
to the sparse tonal qualities of each instrument alone, most notably on "Ade", "Salvador" and "Frevo".
It's not surprising, considering the fiery passion that they evoke, that these last two pieces
are Egberto Gismonti compositions as are six of the total 21 tracks on this collection, perhaps
qualifying the CD as a Gismonti tribute. Many of the other fifteen tracks also capture a potent Brasilian
spirit, reflecting de Vries' interest in the genre. Though not well-known internationally, de Vries
is esteemed in his native Australia, where in 1991 he won The Australian Jazz and Blues Award for
"Best Jazz Guitarist". Listen to the samba flavored beauty that he coaxes solo from his guitar on
"Chorinho Toccatina", technique and composition probably second only to Gismonti himself. Yeah,
this music is at first glance esoteric and unique, but even better... it's brilliant.
Rodney Waterman's Website | Doug de Vries's Website
Christopher Parkening, "Concerto for Guitar," 2000
When Andrés Segovia dubs you "one of the most brilliant guitarists in the world", it's easy to
imagine that the line between career pinnacle and wobbly pedestal might occasionally feel blurred.
In the decade after signing with Capitol Records at age 19, Christopher Parkening accepted the
attendant responsibilities of the passing of the Segovia torch with grace and determination. But
at age 30, Parkening became disullusioned with a grueling lifestyle of concertizing and teaching,
actually giving up playing guitar completely for four years. His way back to music is in part a personal
story of religious devotion, in part a story of growth in musical open-mindedness. Now to the dismay
of some classical purist detractors, Parkening has bravely ventured into such mainstream projects as the
soundtrack to Susan Sarandon's "Stepmom" and most recently Elmer Bernstein's modern "Concerto for
Guitar". One reviewer at Sonicnet has said that "Concerto for Guitar bombards the listener with thick
and distracting orchestration, leaving Parkening at a bit of a disadvantage". There may be some sonic
bombardment in the first few measures which merely grabs a listener's attention, but it makes me
wonder whether this reviewer then simply skipped to the Albéniz track without appreciating the changeable
palette of moods which Bernstein captures. Concerto is divided into three movements, often evoking an Asian or
Latin ambiance. This piece is much more interesting rhythmically than much classical music, and both enables and highlights
Parkening's overt genius on guitar with a 21st century face upon it in a way that a Bach Gavotte cannot.
Track 4 is by Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz, and the final three tracks by American composer Jack Marshall,
archival recordings performed by the then-19 year old Parkening. It's true that at times both the Marshall
and Bernstein pieces seem "soundtracky", but who doesn't enjoy that cinematographic rush of emotion that
a big screen epic rouses in your soul?
Christopher Parkening's Website
Misty River, "Rising," 2000
When the time comes for me to walk through the pearly gates, I want to be ushered through
by a chorus of angelic harmonies like this. Misty River is a four-woman collective
of songstresses who have an incredible talent for precision layering of live voices
as though the feat were done with a multitracker and numerous takes. From the moment the
laser hits the CD, you know this is music which is heavily steeped in the
bluegrass, folk and country traditions. But there's also a modern edge to the music which resembles
the neo-bluegrass style of Alison Krauss or Emmylou Harris. The tunes are framed around a foundation
of the very capable acoustic guitar work of Carol Harley, stand-up bass played by her daughter
Laura Quigley, Christine Kokesh on fiddle and guitar, and Dana Abel on accordion.
Although the musicianship is good, it's through harmony vocals that Misty River really
shines, and for that reason I find the one instrumental track "Obligatory Waltz" strangely out
of place, out-classed by the other tracks. A cameo by Bill Storms on dobro really
beefs up the Townes Van Zandt tune "If I Needed You". Fans of the jazz ensemble Oregon
might be more than a little surprised to find Quigley's instructor Glen Moore playing bowed
bass on "The Trees They Do Grow High". A hidden prize to be gleaned from "Rising" is the introduction
to Chris Kokesh's lyrical creativity. Her songs "Only Love", "Mother, Mother" and
"Real As a Dream" may be a first peek at an emerging songwriting talent.
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com
©
A.F.
Buy it at Amazon.com