Bruce Hornsby - Camp Meeting (2007)

Artist: Bruce Hornsby
Title Of Album: Camp Meeting
Year Of Release: August 7, 2007
Label: Sony Legacy
Genre: Jazz
Quality/Bitrate: MP3 / 224-256 VBR kbit/s / 44.1 Khz / Joint Stereo
Total Time: 67:12 Min
Total Size: 110 Mb
WebSite: www.brucehornsby.com

Camp Meeting, from pianist/composer Bruce Hornsby, is an intermixture of pop, jazz, electronica and even swing music. Hornsby covers songs from legends like Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett, while Hornsby puts his own emblem on each song so that listeners will not be able to extract his melodies from their minds.

“Questions and Answers” was previously unrecorded by Ornette Coleman and Hornsby begins the track at a wicked fast pace right from the start. Then, percussion and drum play add to the rapidity of Hornsby’s adept piano playing. The tempo of the song might remind listeners of what it feels like to form an inquiry and then wait for a reply.

On “Solar,” Hornsby covers the Miles Davis staple with ease and he delivers this song with a slow and practiced texture. Hornsby proceeds to go up and down the musical gradation showing off his proficient instrumentation. Percussion work comes into the melody later on in the song, giving it a jazzy feel.

“Death and the Flower” is a somber cover of the Keith Jarrett ballad. As Hornsby taps away, listeners will hear the affliction which makes this a track that could be heard in a movie where a character is attending a funeral for a loved one and they are paying their final respects. The delayed instrumentation throughout, furthers the sad feeling that is expressed by this song.

On the title track, there is bounteous percussion throughout the whole song as Hornsby skillfully plays the piano. The two instruments blend together to form a seamless melody that listeners will find hard to forget. It is also a song that some will find a breeze to be-bop to as the instruments scat at times.

On “Giant Steps,” the flow is totally different as the track’s intro has techno and electronic sounds. Then, Hornsby’s quick piano work takes over, but the techno sounds continue to prevail in the background. This song could be played in a jazz club or even an electronica club, given its unique rhythm and beats.

Bruce Hornsby’s Camp Meeting is sure to be enjoyed by his longtime fans as well as admirers of many varied genres of music. Hornsby’s proclivity for mixing instruments that wouldn’t usually be used together makes this album a musical summit that listeners should not miss.

Track List
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1. Questions and Answers
2. Charlie, Woody and You/Study #22
3. Solar
4. Death and the Flower
5. Camp Meeting
6. Giant Steps
7. Celia
8. We'll Be Together Again
9. Stacked Mary Possum
10. Straight, No Chaser
11. Un Poco Loco/Chant Song Un Poco Loco\ Chant Song

Personnel: Bruce Hornsby (piano); Jack DeJohnette (drums); Christian McBride (bass instrument).


Amazon.com
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Who knew that pianist/composer Bruce Hornsby, the popsmith of the hit "The Way it Is" and the bluegrass collaborator with Ricky Skaggs, was a jazz sleeper agent since his college days? On this 11-track recording, Hornsby's "Bill Evans-meets-the-hymnbook" pianism is buoyed by Christian McBride's brotherly-loving bass lines and Jack DeJohnette's Big Easy/Windy City drumming. The leader easily digs deep into the Negroidal rhythmic gravity we call swing. Check out the light-speed lyricism he lays down on the previously unrecorded Ornette Coleman number "Questions and Answers," the drum 'n' bass rendition of Coltrane's "Giant Steps," and the Meters-motored take on Miles Davis's "Solar." Keith Jarrett's ballad "Death and a Flower" is played with reverence and restraint, and the downbeats on Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser" and Bud Powell's "Celia" and "Un Poco Loco" don’t do injustice to their bebop roots. Hornsby keeps it rhythmically real, and he's given us a true sound of surprise. --Eugene Holley, Jr.