Al Day
Guest House
© 2002 Al Day
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Enter a world of raging angels, red-winged doves, and soul survivors. Produced by Al Day together with his artistic collaborators.
tracks
- 1 Matilda
- 2 Joe Doubles
- 3 Red Wing Dove
- 4 Frank and Red
- 5 Willy Boy
- 6 Rolling Home
- 7 Black Water
- 8 When the Dream Comes True
- 9 I'm Coming Home to You
- 10 Rage of Angels
- 11 Sole Survivor
- 12 New Holiday
- 13 Down on the Boulevard
- 14 Flyboy and Henry Flame
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Come, enter the Guest House.
Enter a world of raging angels, red-winged doves, and soul survivors.
Enter a world that is home to brave folk, but not brave because they are fearless. Quite the contrary. Those who reside in the Guest House are all-too-well-acquainted with fear and pain and suffering; their bravery is that they continue living and loving anyway.
In the Guest House, you'll find a hard-knocks couple who finally find each other, only to be sundered by death. A woman hurt by a succession of lovers and who yearns for constancy. A tolerant café that is beacon to the displaced lives of a decaying neighborhood. An angry cry for revenge against the worst kind of injustice.
The weave of music and lyrics that Al Day has created to document the world of the Guest House is just as brave. Rooted in Al Day's experiences working with the splintered souls that he encounters as a social worker, these songs go straight as an arrow to the heart, where their effect is indelible. Produced by Al Day together with his artistic
collaborators -- gifted mandolinist Don Stiernberg and bass player Marc Edelstein -- this album does not settle for easy answers, easy solutions. Intricate without being frilly or fancy, this music is timeless and honest, and it hauntingly captures the hopeful, restless search for love and peace.
From out of whatever night you are in, another soul comes to touch yours in the Guest House. Listen, learn and be forever changed. As the song New Holiday promises, "Warm though worn, you shall be found."
Come, join us in the Guest House.
reviews
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- author: Clay Eals
Rarely do you encounter a CD that infects your soul to the degree that you end up playing it more times than you can count. Such is the case with Al Day’s "Guest House." It is so perfect a fusion of substance and sound that it’s not a stretch to call it a masterpiece. In a sense, the CD is a folkie Sergeant Pepper, its songs soaring, settling and soaring again, wending their way from story to metaphor and back again. A seamless flow that makes this project all of a piece, a proverbial sum greater than its parts, daring the listener to play just one song without wanting to hear the next, then the next. So cohesive is the CD that analyzing individual tracks would do injustice to the whole. All of this owes, of course, to the musicianship of Day, whose steady and supple guitar intertwines with the warm bass of Marc Edelstein and the evocative mandolin of virtuoso Don Stiernberg, who spins gold with every note. Perhaps the overarching instrument, however, is Day’s edgy voice. It’s the very definition of expressive and engaging. No crooner could touch the emotions that Day emits with every syllable. As the author of the biography "Steve Goodman: Facing the Music," I was honored that Day and Stiernberg shared their talents at a Goodman tribute that I emceed Nov. 19, 2007, at Lake Forest College north of Chicago. Their pairing on Goodman’s "When My Rowboat Comes In" was especially effective. It was soon after that night that I became aware of "Guest House," and even though the CD is some six years old, its themes are so universal and its production so immediate that its appeal will remain visceral for generations to come. I commend "Guest House" to anyone who yearns to be moved by the magic of music. Many thanks to Al, Don and the others associated with this project for this exquisite gift.
- author: Monica Levin
What a great variety of songs. It's the kind of CD I like to listen to over and over. Great instrumentals, voice, and all the songs are written by Al. Great job!!!