Splendid dance w/ celtic, Appalachian, folk, bluegrass & even symphonic partners
author: Bob Hall
Review By Bob Hall 1/28/07 - Michael Johnathon’s Evening Song CD is a splendid dance with celtic, Appalachian, folk, bluegrass and even symphonic partners. He has appropriately described some of the music as “Folkestral”. All the songs are written by this gifted songwriter, and the arrangements, harmonies and instrumentation are as tasty as it gets. This album takes a number of twists and turns, but all the songs have an evening theme and there is a delicate interplay throughout, between the mandolin, banjo, dobro, fiddle and even the cello which is featured on My Baby.
The CD begins with the moody Blue Highway, which starts off soft and subtle and then intensifies with vocal harmonies and instrumentation. The shortest song, which is unfortunate, at just over a minute is the delightful Mandarin Mandolins featuring Michael and Andy Leftwich of Ricky Skagg’s Kentucky Thunder. This eclectic mix of contemporary folk music includes a cowboy/gambler murder ballad (St. James Hotel), some bluesy banjo on In the Evening, a classical/gypsy mix on Midnight Symphony and the lonely and introspective Benediction and Empty Pillows.
Personal favorites include the celtic and Appalachian influenced Go Laddy Go and the straightforward Sunday Song, about being satisfied and happy being at home on Sundays with nothing to do but enjoy the love of family and music.
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A cozy quilt of tones and rhythms that warms you at dusk
author: Joe Ross
Playing Time – 57:32 -- We often hear acoustic country and bluegrass being fused. Michael Johnathon, on the other hand, has a vision for his “folkestral” music that incorporates elements from folk, blues, bluegrass and classical genres. A consummate touring folksinger who plays guitar, banjo and mandolin, “Evening Song” features 13 originals from Johnathon (with the other two from Bob Dylan and Leroy Carr). We certainly know what Michael’s favorite time of day is. His inspired eclecticism does have a common theme – all of the songs are either about, set in, or written in the evening. That’s interesting because his last album (“Homestead”) also included many similar reflective pieces in our about dimming light (“Winter’s Eve” and “The Homestead Suite”) with that album’s title cut telling a story of a peaceful autumn evening at home.
The notes on Johnathon’s eighth album quote Henry David Thoreau about becoming more pensive in the twilight of the year and the beauty of the last hour of the day. Most of his songs are peaceful and contemplative. Others, like “Mandarin Mandolins” and “Go Laddy Go” impart a little liveliness to the melodic step. The nearly hour-long set closes with “Troubadour,” a meandering and presumably autobiographical sketch about the poetry that lives in his guitar and the “peaceful dreams in everything I sing.” The clever singer-songwriter and radio host (WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour) enlists the support of 18 others for the “Evening Song” project. Noteable bluegrassers include Rob Ickes (Dobro), Don Rigsby (mandolin), and Andy Leftwich (mandolin). Although liner notes don’t clarify who is playing when, Ickes’ playing is immediately recognizable in the breaks and fills. But with five different mandolinists contributing, players should have been credited on a song-by-song basis, and some personal notes about the inspiration for each song would have bee helpful. Others in the patchwork of sound provide cello, bass, violin, viola, French horn, fluglehorn, trumpet, saxophone, drums, percussion, jew’s harp and background vocals. His accompanists successfully dispense “song conversation” to the music. Evening Song’s nicely-arranged, multi-instrumental tones and rhythms resemble a cozy quilt that warms you by the woodstove at dusk. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
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