Jon Klages: “Fabulous Twilight” (2021) CD Review

Known for his work in The Individuals, Jon Klages is a singer and guitarist and songwriter who travels freely among different musical realms, using elements from pop, soul, blues, jazz and rock to create his own sound that is simultaneously classic and fresh. His new album, Fabulous Twilight, features all original material, written or co-written by Jon Klages. Joining him on this release are Neil Larsen (whom many of us saw play with Leonard Cohen during those final years) on keyboards, Davey Faragher on bass, and Pete Thomas on drums. (You probably know both Faragher and Thomas from Elvis Costello And The Imposters.) He gets some help on vocals from Arnold McCuller (who has toured with Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor) and the Honey Whiskey Trio, made up of Courtney Gasque Politano, Ann Louise Jeffries Thaiss and Christina Wilson. So, yes, a seriously talented and accomplished group of musicians performs on these tracks.

The album opens with “Best That We Can,” a smooth, soulful number with a strong beat and a really nice lead on guitar in the second half. Here he expresses a sweet longing in the opening lines: “All the days that have passed since I last held you near/And all the ways that I miss your touch, wish that you were here.” That’s followed by “Rosalie,” which also has a kind of smooth sound and vibe. But the lyrics are what pull me in. Check out these lines: “Would you look in my eyes/And tell me that you see/The same sadness you fought to keep from me/So much older now/If only I had taken the time to ask about the dreams you had/But cast aside/What else did you hide, Rosalie?” Those are some excellent lines. And that brief vocal play in the second half makes me think of the Beach Boys. Wonderful. There is also another interesting guitar lead.

“The Fabulous Twilights” is not quite a title track, but close enough. The title comes from Nathaniel Mayer’s early 1960s group, and the song looks back at the time, both in the lyrics and its sound, the backing vocals here sounding like the doo-wop groups that dominated the era, and the lyrics making reference to that band’s song “Village Of Love.” This track features a beautiful vocal performance, and I absolutely love that work on keyboards. We then get a cool instrumental track titled “Too Cool For Spy School.” And, yeah, there is a spy movie vibe here. You might think of James Bond more than once as you listen, the music being inspired partly by the work of composer John Barry. That’s followed by another cool track, “Long-Tailed Cat,” this one co-written by David St. John. I love the backing vocals, particularly when they deliver observations like “It’s a little peculiar.” And of course that stuff on keys delights me. Then “Red-Dirt Country” is a bluesy, mellow number. Check out these lines: “The sky lost control/Thunder so loud it hurt.” What a great line, “The sky lost control.” This album has many striking, memorable lines.

Things get funky with “Kazoos Are People Too,” which is an instrumental track until near the end, when there is a playful conversation with the kazoo, which clearly wishes to join the band. That is Jon Klages on kazoo. By the way, I checked, and no, kazoos are not people; at least, not yet. That’s followed by “God Bless The Columbia House Records Club,” a song about a childhood love of music and records, something I suspect that anyone reading this will be able to appreciate. We all remember those ads that read, “Ten albums for only a penny.” Who among us didn’t jump at that opportunity at least once? There is some humor in the delivery of this song, particularly as he recounts the specific records he ordered, including “Bob Dylan: ‘Blonde On Blonde,’ that one counted as two.” Then in the chorus he sings, “God bless the Columbia House Record Club/Even though it led us down the road to ruin/God bless the Columbia House Record Club/We were kids, we didn’t know what we were doin’.”  And he of course is singing from the perspective of an adult who now has crates of records, something else we can all relate to. This is one of my favorite tracks.

“Remains” is an unusual song that quickly started to grow on me, in part because of lines like “Two bodies touch in a driving rain/What was lost, what remains” and “Secrets and sins we tried to hide/Chain the lover to the bride,” and also that cool vocal delivery. This one was co-written by David St. John. That’s followed by “1133 Ave. Of The Americas (For Enoch Light),” a strangely soothing and pretty number with vocals, but no lyrics (at least until the end, when he repeats “Kites are fun”). The album concludes with a short track titled “Goin’ Home,” on which Jon Klages plays piano. Songs about going home are always appealing, aren’t they? “When I get to the end of my day/A little tired, but I’m okay/There’s one thing that I know/I’m goin’ home.”

CD Track List

1. Best That We Can
2. Rosalie
3. The Fabulous Twilights
4. Too Cool For Spy School
5. Long-Tailed Cat
6. Red-Dirt Country
7. Kazoos Are People Too
8. God Bless The Columbia House Record Club
9. Remains
10. 1133 Ave. Of The Americas (For Enoch Light)
    
11. Goin’ Home

Fabulous Twilight is scheduled to be released on April 1, 2021.