Tom Rush has been a part of my musical world since I was first introduced to “No Regrets” when I was in high school, and then I explored ”Panama Limited” and other acoustic blues clues to his beginnings after I saw him in concert at the Celebrity Theater back in 1971.      The kid that introduced me to this man’s music was Rick Rogers.  Rick was a slow talking, longhaired, guitar toting hippie wannabe, with a gentle soul and easy laugh, who said to me in passing, “you should listen to Tom Rush, you’d like him”.   How he knew I don’t know.   But he was right.  I did.   If you are out there somewhere, Rick, I owe you!

The 3 singers and songwriters at the top of the pyramid for me for years were Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Rush and John Stewart.   I was fixated on their music and to this day, I own every piece of vinyl any of them have ever released, and in some cases, extra copies because I wore them out.   Mark Knopfler has joined this elite club in my later years.     John Stewart died last January and Gordon’s prime has passed.   These were sad events for me.   Used to be I would look forward to each of their next albums with baited breath.  In Tom’s case, I would have joined Tut inside the pyramid if I held my breath that long.   

After Merrimac County in 1972, there was Ladies Love Outlaws in 1974, which was, I think, a stab at a Nashville commercial chart hitter…..but I always felt it was over produced and Tom’s excellence got lost in it.   ”No Regrets“, one of his signature songs, was much better when it was first released on the Circle Game album juxtaposed with “Rockport Sunday“, his eloquent solo guitar companion piece.   (Footnote, it seems to me that when it was released on Classic Rush on Elektra, they reversed the order…..Rockport was first, No Regrets second, and on the Classic Rush album, the opposite occurred.  Tom, no doubt tinkering?)

Anyway, after his last Columbia release, there were a couple of recordings in the early 80′s that I unearthed in the Folk section of now defunct Tower Records and Ebay.   Also, a New Years special I taped off of PBS in 1980, but nothing else until the Very Best of Tom Rush  which is quite a nice compilation of the Prestige, Elektra and Columbia years.  A new one, “River Song“, appeared at the very end and knocked my socks clean off.    (It has become my wife’s and my courtin’ song)    It was like an old friend coming home.   But that was all she (or he, in this case) wrote.

Not that Tom wasn’t busy doing this or that, but musically, I lost him.   Until the Internet.   (Thanks Al?) 

One fine day, I found him and his website (circa 2000 and loose change?)    I was sitting around playing www dot fill in name here dot com and there he was.   On a lark, I emailed him and asked him the equivalent of “whassup” and when might he be coming to Phoenix.    Amazingly, he emailed back.   And said, he didn’t know.   But if someone was interested, let them know to contact him.   Cool, I thought.   Who do I know?   Big fat hairy nobody.  

But I was on his mailing list and over the ensuing years, found his humorous live collection Trolling for Owls and I got hold of a 6 song cassette “work in progress” that he released in limited supply and I then wore out.  (One day it unraveled and became ‘one’ with my previous car’s cassette player for eternity.)     But that is where I first heard “All A Man Can Do” .     Which now makes its appearance on the brand new , What I Know, Tom’s first major studio album in all those intervening years, and which was just released this week. 

Tom doesn’t write much.   When he does, he gives birth to monster songs…..like “No Regrets” or the “River Song“.    He is a very literate fellow and usually goes deep when he writes.   The cheerful exceptions to the rule are found here in What I Know …….his latest songs are far less introspective and far more joyful.   And unself-conscious.   Listen to ”Silly Little Diddle” and “What I Know”, and the concert opener “Hot Tonight” and ”One Good Man“   “River Song” makes a reprise appearance here with a different arrangement……(and again, like “No Regrets” back in 1974, he got “River Song” right the first time in 1999.  But its such a great song, it lives well here.  I just like the crescendo bridge in the first version and the way he delivers the hook line towards the end of the song.  But what do I know? 

Tom’s amazing ear and talent for interpretation of other artists’ material is legendary.  For the uninitiated, Tom recorded James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell, long before the world knew anything about them.   And his song selections over his career have been delightful.   This album is no exception.    It sneaks up on you.    You hear it the first two times and are pleased.   You hear it again, and something gets in underneath you, and then you start to hear the whole thing.   Not with your ears so much as your spirit.   The phrasing, both guitar and vocal are classic Tom Rush.   (Which is why he is so good as a solo act, he communicates intricate things with voice and strings).    He makes ”Drift Away”, the Dobie Gray standard sound like a Tom Rush song.  As familiar as it is, you hear it differently.   The more you listen to it, the more distinctive it becomes.   And its the sparest arrangement on the album (just guitar and cello).   

The fine accompaniment on this album manages to avoid overproduction.   I was tickled to find Rush veterans Trevor Veitch and Robin Batteau making appearances on the album, and the other assembled musicians are all top notch.  He jokes about the sax and steel together on “What An Old Lover Knows but the instruments work just fine.   “Lonely”  the Mishka Frith reggae classic is amazing…..I didn’t know I knew the song until several listenings.   Tom’s interpretations are that distinctive and this is a truly wonderful rendition.   When I hear “You’re Not Here With Me”, I feel the same things in my spirit that I felt when I heard “Wind on the Water” from his Merrimac County album.   On this album, Tom found me.   Got right through the crust and right in my spirit.   That’s what he always did, with his songs or those he interprets, and its quite amazing that he can still do it.   Because we have all changed.   Or have we?   

You are in for a treat if you are a longtime fan like me, because this is an outstanding album.   If you are new to Tom Rush…I envy you.   You have years of music to discover.    But listen to this a dozen times or so first…..don’t miss any of the nuances.    Its worth sipping slowly.       In this season of being confronted with life’s impermanence and the inevitable fading of hopes and dreams, it is quite extraordinary to have this gift appear, as though no time has passed at all.   In ”Too Many Memories” (with Emmylou Harris doing harmony vocals), the writer defines growing old as replacing hope with regret.   

What I Know …..is that we can thank Tom Rush for putting that notion on hold for awhile.

Martin here, blog usurper.   (I am tired of waiting for Erich to craft his latest post.)

I’ve made a discovery about my assimilation/appreciation of music.  Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing all at one and not end up appreciating it.  (I’m sure it applies to stuff other than music, too!)

For example, on Black Friday I went out and braved the traffic to see if I could pick up a wireless network antenna (“needed” it to play some CNC type games with my boy), and ended up at Circuit City, a store that is being closed down.  Consequently, they had everything marked down … including all of their CD’s.

I began greedily picking up CD’s until my wonderful spouse finally began to get impatient.  I ended up with about 15 CD’s.  They were a real bargain (an average of $8 or less).

I find now, that it has been a couple weeks and I haven’t gotten around to listen to many of them (other than a cursory first pass), let alone develop that new music “bond”.  You know the one, when you get a new “album” (as Erich calls them still), and listen to it over and over again.  You get so that you know what order the music is, and are discombobulated when the tracks are played out of order.  At this point in the “relationship” you know all the lyrics by heart.

Well, it’s hard to get there, when you have 15 new CD’s to listen through.   I’ve come to the conclusion that I really shouldn’t buy more than one or two at a time.  I’ve “discovered” CD’s I purchased in lots, that never got a fair shake in the queue, and years later I realized that they were actually pretty good.  In some ways, it was better for my appreciation of the music when I couldn’t afford the occasional splurge, buying multiple new CD’s.

The CD I have started imprinting with is the new Los Lonely Boys: Forgiven.  It is the first CD I have by this band.  I’ve heard snatches of things here and there, including the Salvador cover of Heaven.  Boy is this CD good!  If I didn’t get any other music from my outing, this one was worth the trip.

The band incorporates a lot of things I REALLY like into their music.  Sometimes it’s like listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn, while other tracks almost sound like the Ventures, the Beatles, or John Elefante.   Good stuff.  I have listened to this CD at least 10 times now, but still haven’t got it quite imprinted.  I don’t know all the lyrics to every song, or the track order quite yet.

I’m making a vow not to buy anything else until I spend some time with the others, though.  I am really spoiled.

I recently picked up an Alison Krauss’ Too Late to Cry. It’s a good album, especially when you consider that she was only 16 years old when she recorded it! I didn’t realize that it was her debut effort when I bought it. (Wikipedia is a good source for stuff like that.)

I’m a fan of Krauss and Union Station, perhaps not quite as enamored as host’s son Nick, but a big fan nonetheless. So, when I saw this CD at Fry’s electronics (I can’t walk by a CD display without looking), I had to get it. I think I have every other CD she has done.

This one was different, her voice has definitely improved with age, but the musicianship was phenomenal even then. This predated Dan Tyminsky and Ron Block, but Jerry Douglas was featured. The instrumental Dusty Miller is, in a word, awesome. Too Late to Cry is an interesting time capsule, capturing who Krauss was then, and foreshadowing who she’d end up to be. This is especially evident in her cover of Rodney Crowell’s Song for Life. I’d heard this one before on a Kathy Mattea CD that came out at about the same time. I like both versions.

It’s worth picking up, if you’re a fan, but probably not, if you’re not.  If you’re not a fan, buy A Hundred Miles or More and you will be.

I figure anyone can review a new CD, (Martin, the blog usurper here again) so I thought I’d revisit an old friend.  Who knows, I might review a few of these old friends.    This time around I thought I’d talk about one of my favorite Jazz CD’s, Color Rit.  I bought this CD when it first came out almost 20 years ago.  It’s aged really well.

I like Jazz of most varieties, but some of the stuff that you hear, while pleasant enough background music, is really kind of, well, boring.  Some of the “Smooth Jazz” that’s touted so much is often indistinguishable from elevator music.  I figure if I can’t tell one group/artist/song from another, the music isn’t really all that potent.

This CD and artist are instantly recognizable for me.  They were from the moment I first heard them.  If you have a craving for crisp sharp, clean guitar that will loosen the wax in your ears, this CD is for you.  It’s safe to say the Ritenour is a virtuouso guitar player.  This CD shows that talent off.  There are number of Brazilian (I think) influences in the music and some funky vocalists, but it’s the guitar work that really shines.  The first piece on the CD, Bahia Funk, sets the tone.  It’s like listening to sunshine.

Howdy! (Martin here.)

As the guy who’s thrown together the AZ Music Café website, I have conferred upon myself the privilege of being a guest author on the newly launched AZ Music Café Blog.  Hopefully, big brother won’t mind me treading water in his pool.

I recently purchased Yo Yo Ma’s new Christmas album.   Wow is this good stuff!  

There are all kinds of people on this CD.  James Taylor, Allison Krauss, Edgar Meyer, Dave Brubeck, and Chris Botti, to name a few.

The first 15 songs on the CD were phenomenal.  (I didn’t care much for 18-20, but with 15 very strong, very high quality pieces up front, I can deal with 3 I don’t like.  Who knows, maybe they will grow on me.)  The CD has 20 tracks in all.   James Taylor and Diana Krall are both excellent as featured vocalists.  

Number 13, INVITACIÓN AL DANZÓN, is really great.  Since my daughter plays the clarinet, we always keep an ear out for this instrument in any jazz or classical music we buy.  This one does not disappoint.  Wow!

This is a Christmas album that I will probably listen to all year, since it doesn’t necessarily come across as a the same old holiday staples.  (For instance, I had a quick listen to some of Spyro Gyra’s Christmas effort.  It was OK, but not outstanding.)  This CD is outstanding and I would have to say, out of the norm for Christmas music.  I highly recommend it.