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Primrose Green [LP]
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Primrose Green [LP]
Current price: $15.99
Barnes and Noble
Primrose Green [LP]
Current price: $15.99
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Size: CD
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Guitarist
follows
, his 2014 debut full-length, by delving deeper into some of the abstract jazz and psych-inflected folk-rock that permeated several of its tracks. On
-- his debut for
-- he doesn't worry about putting his own signature on his tunes; this record is all about playing music he loves with people he respects. Though these are original songs, their inspirational roots lie in late-'60s and early-'70s sources. He's found a host of willing Chicago collaborators from the worlds of jazz and improv to assist, including cellists
and
, vibraphonist
, drummer
, keyboardist
, upright and electric bassist
, and electric guitarist
. Less than a minute into the opening title track, one can hear the very spirit of
-- one of several
muses here -- coming through the ether (or smoke, such as it were, since it is titled for a particular strain of pot). Eastern modes and droning psych are rung out on a 12-string, piano, electric guitars, vibes, and upright bass (the latter recalling
, who played with
on the London concert issued as
).
's voice swoops and sails, floats and hovers through his words about getting high. "Summer Dress" moves on (a bit) to widen the circle and embrace
's early-'70s sound inside
's elastic chamber jazz approach.
's guitar and
's vibes send this one into a darkly grooving stratosphere. "Same Minds" is so silvery and mercurial, one can feel
's ghost in the mix. The instrumental "Love Can Be Cruel" evokes
's sense of space and motion with wafting electronic noise grounding the tune in the 21st century. Speaking of
, the twilit psych-jazz of "Sweet Satisfaction" recalls the keyboardist's
band with singer
(now
), though
's sense of elongated glossolalia still holds sway over the singer's vocal.
's killer fingerstyle guitar artistry isn't left off this record; it's present to stellar effect on "Griffiths Bucks Blues," "On the Banks of the Old Kishwaukee," "The High Road" (a duet with
), and the closing "Hide in the Roses." The latter track is informed by
's and
's readings of the British Isles folk tradition. It's these rootsier tunes that add glue to the sensual, stoned, free-spirited cuts to make this a cohesive album. With its ready absorption of, homage to, and engagement with the past,
's skills as a guitarist and arranger make
as musically compelling as it is willfully indulgent. ~ Thom Jurek