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By George Graham
http://georgegraham.com/reviews/gilmour.html |
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While musical style fads come and go, some genres have great durability.
Jazz, for example, is building new music on the foundations that
have been around for something approaching 100 years. The singer-songwriter
form is also proving its longevity. Tracing its roots back to the
folk musicians in the early part of the 20th Century, and then brought
to the fore by the late Woody Guthrie toward the middle of the century,
the style inspired several generations of artists from Bob Dylan
in 1960s on. And it shows no signs of being tapped out creatively.
In essence, its simplicity -- a person singing original songs with
lyrics that have something to say -- ensures that as long as the
communication between artist and audience exists, there will likely
be singer-songwriters plying their trade, and people to listen to
them, despite the absence of such music on the commercial media.
Currently, we have a great proliferation of singer-songwriters,
with hundreds of them releasing their CDs each year, mostly through
independent labels or entirely on their own. Obviously with that
many artists on the scene releasing CDs competing for fans' attention,
the quality can range from masterpieces to downright awful. It doesn't
take a great deal of musical perception to realize that a good singer-songwriter
should sing well and write worthwhile songs. Sometimes one facet
is better than the other. But when you have a very good combination
of both in an artist, it's hard to go wrong. This week's CD is a
worthy example by an artist who combines an appealing high-tenor
vocal with thoughtful original songs, and in this case very tasteful
musicianship. He is Jim Gilmour, and his CD is called Quarterline.
Vermont resident Jim Gilmour is one of those people who has been
in the background in the music business for almost 20 years, as
a bassist, backing vocalist and producer/engineer at his own studio.
His biography also includes a stint as video news crew member, working
for NBC. After working in a supporting role musically for those
years, he decided to take up songwriting in earnest in 1998. For
this CD, he assembled some talented people who have graced the recordings
by some of today's best in the genre. They include producer/engineer
and multi-instrumentalist Ben Wisch, who has produced CDs by Marc
Cohn, Cheryl Wheeler and Patty Larkin. Also appearing is guitarist
Duke Levine, known for his work with Mary Chapin Carpenter and John
Gorka, and as well as being an outstanding artist on his own; and
drummer Shawn Pelton a veteran of the Saturday Night Live band,
and albums by Joan Osborne and Edie Brickell among others. Gilmour
himself handles both acoustic guitar and bass duties.
This is a group who know just what to add to bring out the best
is a singer-songwriter, and when combined with Gilmour's qualities,
makes for a very pleasing and worthwhile recording.
Gilmour writes about subjects that have certainly been explored
before, such as relationships with an emphasis on loves torn asunder.
He can give a very melodic treatment to some rather sad, and even
tragic lyrics. Many of his songs are narratives that unfold as they
go along, including some with surprise turns of events at their
end. Musically, while many of the arrangement ideas have been used
on other CDs on which these backing musicians have appeared, it
all comes together very well and tastefully here.
The relatively brief 40 minute CD begins with the title track, Quarterline.
The piece establishes the sound of the album, with the laid-back,
classy arrangement providing the backing to Gilmour's likable, relaxed
airy tenor vocals, and his intelligent lyrics. In this case, the
song seems to be about a place of refuge.
Rather different in lyrical direction is Hour in Texarkana the story
of a tragic figure who had just lost his baby to illness. He is
found sleeping in his car by a law officer, and ultimately brings
on further tragedy.
Another story song turns out to be one of the highlight tracks of
the CD, Hometown, whose protagonist is anxious to get out of the
place in which he grew up. Then he falls in and out of love, and
ultimately returns to the place he was so anxious to leave.
Separation is a theme that runs through several of the songs. Another
Day explores the subject combined with a little consideration of
one's place in the greater scheme of things.
Another song that combines a pretty musical setting with some decidedly
downbeat lyrics is Still Don't Know. It's about a character whose
mother ran off with a man, and then disappeared for decades. A car,
matching the description of the one in which she was last seen is
found underwater. But it is not what was hoped for.
There are two songs which run together to be a kind of six-minute
suite. Put a Little and Falling again visit the subject of separation,
in this case the end of an affair.
Gilmour again mixes lyrics of a decidedly unhappy nature with a
musical setting that is anything but. Why Run considers drug addiction
from the perspective of the user who just can't seem to stop.
The CD ends on another sad note, Jeanine is the story of a free-spirited
girl who died apparently in a motor scooter accident. The musical
setting is appropriately introspective, with just Gilmour and the
atmospheric electric guitar of Mark Schulman.
After toiling as a sideman and behind the scenes as a producer or
engineer, Jim Gilmour has stepped out with an outstanding solo CD
debut in Quarterline. He is very good at what singer-songwriters
are supposed to do with his instantly likable vocals and multifaceted
songs, with their complex characters and story lines that don't
always have a happy ending. The musical backing is about as fine
as you'll encounter in the field, with exceptionally tasteful playing
by the gathered musicians and the understated, sensitive production
by Ben Wisch. Sometimes the musical mood is at odds with the content
of the lyrics, but that often enhances the irony. The result is
an album that can be listened to on several levels, from the pleasing
sound to the complicated story lines in the lyrics.
Our sound quality grade is a definite but now increasingly rare
"A." There is a wonderfully intimate sound, with very
good clarity on vocals and instrumentation. The sound is also relatively
uncompressed, with a nice dynamic range which allows the finer points
of the music to shine through.
With hundreds of good, recent singer-songwriter CDs available,
Jim Gilmour's Quarterline begs the question what does the CD
have that sets it apart from so many others? The answer is a
simple one, quality. Gilmour and company are a class act, from
the songs to the sonic treatment. It's a textbook example of
what a singer-songwriter record should strive for.
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Berkshire Eagle - Seth Rogovoy |
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With the production and instrumental team of producer/keyboardist
Ben Wisch (Cheryl Wheeler, Patty Larkin), guitarists Duke Levine (Mary
Chapin Carpenter, Jonatha Brooke) and Marc Schulman (Lucy Kaplansky,
Patty Larkin), and drummer Shawn Pelton, "Quarterline," the new CD
by Vermont singer-songwriter Jim Gilmour has a familiar sound. But
Gilmour, who is at Armis in Great Barrington (528-3296) on Friday
at 10, stamps the effort with his David Crosby-like, yearning tenor,
his distinctive acoustic guitar textures, and his gentle melodicism.
For the last 15 years, Gilmour has been on the other side of the boards,
helping musicians capture their music on tape as a producer, engineer
and sideman. Judging from his own professional-sounding CD,the winner
of the 2002 KRCL Performing Songwriter Showcase Contest in Park City,
Utah, apparently was paying close attention to what was going on in
the studio all those years, as he sounds like a natural.
Seth Rogovoy can be reached at seth@rogovoy.com
or c/o Berkshire Eagle, 268 Main St., Great Barrington 01230
or on the web at www.rogovoy.com.
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Seven Days - Robert Resnik |
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In the Beatles movie "Hard Days Night" British comic actor
Wilfrid Brambell played the role of Paula's grandfather. All through
the movie, everyone who came across this old codger immediately makes
a comment about how "clean" he seemed to be. "Clean"
is also the first and foremost adjective that comes to mind to describe
Rutland County singer/songwriter Jim Gilmour's debut CD, entitled
"Quarterline."
The sound on the 10 carefully crafted tracks is sparkling, the playing
uncluttered, the writing confident and singing quite gorgeous (Gilmour's
voice brings to mind Jesse Colin Young during his golden years with
the Youngbloods). Gilmour has spent years enriching the musical culture
in and around Middletown Springs, VT; organizing the Solarfest (a
well-established summertime songwriters and alternative energy festival),
launching the Turn of the Tide concert series at the Middletown Springs
library, and producing and/or engineering numerous local recording
projects at Southview Arts, his studio high on a hill above the town.
It's good news that he won a performing songwriter contest last year
in Park City, Utah: After a year of heavy touring he is finally getting
recognition as a solo musician as well for his many projects. | |
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