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In my August 30 entry about the song "Killing The Blues", I mentioned longtime John Prine sideman Jason Wilber, who had recorded a fine version of that song on his 2004 album King For A Day. During our recent cross-country relocation from Washington state to North Carolina, I pulled out that disc, as well as his most recent record, 2006's Lazy Afternoon, which I believe we unfortunately didn't manage to review in our pages when it came out.

Following the old adage that it's better late than never, I'd like to weigh in on the worthiness of Lazy Afternoon -- particularly one song sporting the unusual name "Northern Lights Seen Over Lewisburg Tennessee". The title sounds like a newspaper headline and appears indeed to have been inspired by a real-life report, judging from this couplet in the song: "Aurora Borealis, Southern Tennessee/One in a million, I saw it on the TV."

It's where Wilber runs with the idea that results in magic. Lyrically, he uses the rare celestial event to illuminate the contradictory feelings of withdrawn alienation and wild-eyed wonder that lurk beneath the surface of a lonely young boy. Musically, this is adventurous stuff for Wilber; he takes the tune far beyond his usual singer-songwriter turf and into a rather jazz-inflected realm. The exploratory flights of pianist Kevin McKendree prove particularly moving.

Those piano excursions, in fact, led to revisiting a previously established cross-country-drive favorite, George Winston's "Northern Plains". It's on a disc titled All The Seasons Of George Winston that my wife brought into the marriage. To be honest, I'd never really thought much of, or listened much to, Winston's work prior to discovering this disc. I'd heard his resplendent rendition of Pachelbel's "Canon", sure, but beyond that I pretty much wrote off Winston and all his Windham Hill ilk as elevator fodder I needn't bother with.

I came to think differently three years ago when we made this cross-country relocation in the other direction. Somewhere around western Nebraska we put All The Seasons into the car deck, and almost instantly his piano playing seemed to be at one with the forever-reaching horizons of the landscape. It seemed fitting that the track which most perfectly suited the surroundings was titled "Northern Plains" -- almost certainly inspired by a trip through the very territory we were traveling through.

We're on the other side now, finally getting settled (thus my extended blog-absence these past few weeks, for which I request your understanding -- if you've moved recently, I'm sure you can dig it). With the stereo recently hooked up, I'm listening tonight, on repeat, to "Northern Lights Seen Over Lewisburg Tennessee", and drifting away into that great big black-and-bright sky....

adios,
peter

Posted by peter on October 15, 2007 6:25 PM | Permalink