Wednesday In Winter opens with its title track, which begins with the sounds of a city street, and soon takes on a great jazzy atmosphere and style, the lyrics creating a vivid character and scene. “As the temperature drops/His toes start to tingle/The bus doesn’t come/And he forgives no one/And he dreams he’s a writer/Writing a novel/In which he settles old scores.” How about those for some excellent lyrics? This band continues to surprise and delight me. And then later: “The temperature drops/The bus doesn’t come/But he isn’t bothered/And he well knows why/For he dreams he’s a writer/Writing a novel/Which will win him a prize/And cut a few folks down to size.” I suppose, whether we wish to admit it or not, we can all find ourselves in these lines. We all have people in our pasts who have annoyed us, slighted us, hurt us in some way. And to get back at them, not with violence, but with a successful novel seems perfect. But then: “And he hears a bus passing/A half a block over/The same one that left him/That cold winter’s night/And he knows he’s no writer/He’s writing no novels/And there’s never a time/When old wrongs are made right.” I adore the drumming here, as well as work on keys. So good! And toward the end we are treated to a cool sax lead. This song was written by John Shock.
The band then changes direction with “What I Left Unsaid,” which features the accordion and has a different kind of energy. Early in the song, we hear this line: “I always managed to complexify.” And just as I was like, wait a second, he then adds, “I know ‘complexify’ is not a word/But that is what I’ve always done,” and I laugh a loud. There is a good deal of humor to this band’s work, which I appreciate. He goes on to use the non-word again later in the song. This is a fun song, featuring a delicious horn section. Some wonderful work on fiddle adds to the great spirit of this track. “And I apologize for the things I’ve done/But mostly for what I left unsaid.” This one was written by Paul Margolis. That is followed by “Crazy About You,” a totally sweet and goofy love song written by John Shock. “In the court of love, I plead insanity/Denying none of all that has been said of me.” There is a delightful, playful aspect to the vocal delivery. I need to play this one for my girlfriend. “Crazy about you, high or low/Crazy about you all the time.” I think that’s something everyone would like to hear from that loved one. And man, the brass section is just so good here, helping to create a cool vibe. The only line I have trouble with is this: “Crazy about you, blue or red.” If my girlfriend suddenly started voting Republican, I would immediately check for head injuries and seek medical help for her.
“Mr. Mighty” is another enjoyable number, this one written by Dan Naiman and Paul Margolis. It features the accordion, and there is something playful about this one, inviting us to the group’s own sort of polka. These guys will often surprise you with their lyrics, singing things that you can’t imagine many other artists coming up with. For example, this track contains lines about an odd character and his eager dog, “Mr. Might, Mr. Mighty/Washing his tights/On cold cycle/Tumble dry will take a while/So he lies down with Astronaut/But they’ll awaken when the dryer’s done.” Those lines remind me a bit of the “Mr. Neutron” sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. “Mr. Mighty” is followed by “Outside Lookin’ In,” a song with a delicious vibe, jazzy rockabilly, particularly in that great guitar work. And the sax plays a prominent role right at the start. This track is a delight. “Outside lookin’ in/I don’t know where to begin/To tell her how sorry I am/For the things that I did/The mistakes that I made all along.”
“Not that long ago, or a long time ago, depending on how old you are” is the first line of “Beard And A Banjo.” I should have guessed from the song’s title that this would be a light, playful number, and indeed it is. “He’s got a small place in the right part of town/A little fixed up, a little run down/Just enough room for himself and his dog/And his beard and his banjo.” This band is adept at creating great character sketches. “Calls Hank Williams ‘Hank,’ calls Bob Dylan ‘Dylan.’” I’m not exactly sure why that line stands out for me, but it does. Maybe it’s because I was thinking about that sort of thing in relation to politics recently, why Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders are called by their first names, but all other presidential candidates are called by their last names. The band gets good and jazzy on this album, particularly on a song like “He’s Sedated,” written by Paul Margolis. I love the vibe, the style, that cool rhythm and atmosphere, with a vocal delivery that approaches spoken word. “At the discount chateau” is a phrase that delights me. The guitar part near the end comes as a surprise, a little detour before returning to the main theme.
On Gray Green, The Stone Hill All-Stars presented one song written by Jeff Rymes. On this album the band does two Jeff Rymes songs, and each features a guest vocalist. The first is “Tomcat Luziana Slaw,” with Mike Barth on lead vocals. This song starts as a cool, loose little jam. It’s nearly two minutes before vocals come in, and the song becomes even cooler. Jeffrey Paul Ross plays guitar on this track, and Nick Sjostrom is on upright bass. The cool vibes continue with “In The Coatroom,” written by Dan Naiman, Paul Margolis and John Shock. “Day fades into circus/Fades into circumstance/Working in the coatroom/Is it fate I saw you passing by.” This track features some wonderful work on saxophone, and I totally dig the percussion. The second song written by Jeff Rymes is “The Highway Call.” This time it is Adam Trice who joins the band on vocals. This one has a sadder tone, and features fiddle. “And all those dreams we treasured best have disappeared from view/The stores have all been boarded up/The houses have been sold/The neighbors, they have gone away/Their stories have been told/And the new regime has taken hold/Our days, they’re filled with strife/‘Til I can hardly recognize this thing that we call life.” There is a certain beauty to this song, and while there is melancholy to it, there is ultimately something uplifting about it as well. The album concludes with a cover of Mark Brine’s “Time For Me To Be Gone,” a song from his 2015 release All Alone & Blue (where it also was the final track). The Stone Hill All-Stars put their own spin on it. As it starts, it feels like a party in Louisiana, led by the accordion. This track also features some delicious guitar work. “And all I got to say is, So long.”
CD Track List
- Wednesday In Winter
- What I Left Unsaid
- Crazy About You
- Mr. Mighty
- Outside Lookin’ In
- Beard And A Banjo
- He’s Sedated
- Tomcat Luziana Slaw
- In The Coatroom
- The Highway Call
- Time For Me To Be Gone
Wednesday In Winter was released on July 1, 2024.
No comments:
Post a Comment