Joel Harrison - Free Country (2003)

This is the very first post of this blog that is dedicated in spreading and sharing the beauty of hard-to-find music or not-too-hard-to-find-but-nice-to-share music...

I begin with Joel Harrison's 'Free Country' that was released back in 2003, but it was just some weeks ago that a friend discovered this experimental gem and shared it. It stands as a brilliant idea how such distinctive styles and solid forms of music such as country music, could be interpreted within a completely different perspective and musical approach. Note the involvement of Norah Jones and avant-garde pianist Uri Caine in the same project!

I copy paste from Harrison's official website:

'Free Country is a collection of old Country and Appalachian tunes arranged in unusual, even radical, ways. Simply put, this body of work is my sonic view of the experiment known as America — not the billboard, but the underbelly. I love these songs, their pathos, economy, magisterial beauty, sly wisdom, and deep soul. I have tried to be true to their timeless, primal spirit, while illuminating their essence with my own imprint, using every musical device at my disposal. The stylistically unbound sounds goes from meditative and gorgeous, to humorous and haunting, to reckless and intense.

Free Country is a band that was born 5 years ago in the Stork Club in downtown Oakland amidst perennial Christmas lights, a decrepit posse of toothless regulars, a jukebox full of Patsy Cline, and a handful of brave new music acolytes. There were 2 drummers, two guitarists, a saxophonist, and a fiddle player (I think!), and the band included Adam Levy who now plays with Norah Jones, who is one of the singers on our recording…small world.

The concept has blossomed into a steady group with a large repertoire unlike anything else in the "Jazz" World. The band takes Old country and Appalachian tunes and has its way with them in unusual, sometimes startling, but always interesting ways. George Jones, or, say, Gid Tanner and The Skillet Lickers never sounded like this. Styles crisscross and become a blur, each piece is its own new world and yet still tied into the primal origins of the traditional music'.

JOEL HARRISON - FREE COUNTRY (Act Company, 2003)

tracklist

01 I Walk The Line
02 Lonesome Road Blues
03 Wayfaring Stranger
04 This Land Is Your Land
05 Twelve Gates To The City
06 Tennessee Waltz
07 Hell Broke Koose In Georgia
08 Folsom Prison Blues
09 Tender Years
10 Will The Circle Be Unbroken
11 Sing Me Back Home
12 Lone Pilgrim

musicians
Joel Harrison electric, fretless, steel guitar & cassette machine
Dave Binney sax, sampler
Rob Thomas violin
Sean Conly bass
Alison Miller drums

guests
Norah Jones voice
Raz Kennedy voice
Uri Caine piano
Tony Cedra accordion

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