Angel Band: Free Country, Vol. 3 (HighNote)
Joel Harrison
Released August 2018
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k4UTplfQF_uX1uRNJ4qEsocJYVcT1alBI
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/7ukMLviXRzZJf4kekxKBDG?si=1YOzK5bGQV2P3CadeTahGA
About:
The music of Joel Harrison stubbornly defies categorizing, though many have tried. From haunting psychedelia to rollicking Afro-Appalachian grooves; from the complex poly-everything of Charles Ives to the deceptively simple re-imagining of American folk ballads, Joel Harrison is perhaps the most imaginative, inventive and inclusive artist in contemporary jazz music. Angel Band is the third in his acclaimed Free Country series of projects and, like its predecessors, features a unique mix of jazz interpretations of Americana, deeply felt arrangements of songs by iconic artists such as Olabelle Reed, Johnny Cash, and Bill Monroe. Many long time allies from the first two records reappear here, including saxophonist David Binney, bassist Stephan Crump, and pianist Uri Caine whose pianism ranges from pointillistic to pugilistic. But for all the considerable talents of the side artists this is Harrison’s show. As today’s emaciated, blog-fed music scene staggers around looking for the newest trend Harrison continues to cross and combine languages in order to challenge pre-conceived notions of “how it should go,” and find new frontiers in familiar music.
“My goal on the latest Free Country recording is again to arrange country and Appalachian music for a jazz group in new and unusual ways. I’m conscious of both moving forward and staying true to the elemental soul of the songs, where old stories are told by modern, protean players. Or as a friend once put it, “Downtown meets the heartland.” Whether sung straight, or approached as improvisational vehicles, I find endless currency in this material.
An angel is defined as an attendant and benevolent spirit. Perhaps we musicians are entrusted to act as such. This is, of course, a serious task, and yet the beauty of these tunes is they encourage us not just to meditate and grieve but also to laugh and dance.”
Joel Harrison
Track Listing:
1. America The Beautiful 6:26
2. Jerusalem Ridge 5:12
3. Ring of Fire 4:27
4. 900 Miles 5:34
5. We Shall Rise 5:39
6. Angel Band 9:26
7. My Epitaph 3:50
8. Osage Stomp 4:01
9. Wichita Lineman 5:59
10. Go Rest High on That Mountain 4:47
11. Lost Indian 4:32
12. Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain 3:18
Personnel:
Joel Harrison: guitar, dobro, 6-string banjo, National Steel guitar, vocals
David Binney: alto saxophone
Jon Cowherd: piano, organ
Uri Caine: piano, Fender Rhodes (1, 8, 9)
Chris Tordini: bass (1-3, 5-7, 10, 12)
Stephan Crump: bass (4, 8, 9, 11)
Brian Blade: drums (1-3, 5-7, 10, 12)
Allison Miller: drums (4, 8, 9, 11)
Christian Howes: violin (4, 8, 11)
Darol Anger: violin (2, 5)
Hank Roberts: cello (1, 10)
Nels Cline: guitar (6)
Alecia Chakour: vocals (3, 6, 7)
Everett Bradley: vocals (5, 10)
Theo Bleckmann: vocals (6)
Nicki Logan: vocals (10)
Nathan Koci: accordion (4)
John Hadfield: frame drum (4)
David Mansfield: pedal steel guitar (10)
Recorded at The Bunker, Brooklyn
Producer: Joel Harrison
Executive-Producer: Barney Fields
Mastered by David Darlington
Mixed by Liberty Ellman
Photography by Scott Friedlander
Graphic Design: Christopher Drukker
Review:
Guitarist Joel Harrison returns to his Free Country series after about 15 years, and it’s worth the wait. His celebrated fusion of jazz and country now expands its scope to include many of the other music traditions he’s assayed since the series left off in 2004: psychedelia, soul and gospel among them. It’s certainly the richest album he’s yet made.
Harrison’s take on Bob Wills’ “Osage Stomp” probably best expresses that richness. It opens on a riff that’s equal parts Western Swing, bebop, Eastern European oom-pah and rock ’n’ roll, before collapsing into a free-jazz breakdown courtesy of pianist Uri Caine. The tune’s then reconstituted as hard swing with a blistering turn from Harrison and bluegrass vibes courtesy of violinist Christian Howes.
Even that, however, doesn’t encompass all the ingredients. An eerie, psychedelic “America The Beautiful” tips its hat to Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock; vocalist Alecia Chakour leads a simmering neo-soul arrangement of “Ring Of Fire.” Harrison, Caine and alto saxophonist David Binney trade blues-tipped post-bop solos on a pathos-laden “Wichita Lineman,” with drummer Allison Miller keeping them tight.
Angel Band: Free Country, Vol. 3 easily shows that Harrison grasps not just the basis of the music he mines, but the nuances, too, resulting in a collection of great diversity and remarkable cohesion.
Michael J. West (DownBeat)
