Harrison on Harrison
finds jazz guitarist
Joel Harrison
investigating the music of rock icon
George Harrison
. Featuring a stellar ensemble including, among others, saxophonist
David Liebman
, pianist
Uri Caine
and drummer
Dan Weiss
,
Harrison
has crafted an adventurous and forward-thinking album that celebrates not only the former
Beatle
's superb songcraft, but also his sense of musical exploration. That exploration found
delving into everything from
British folk
music to
gospel
psychedelic rock
and ultimately Indian music.
fully embraces such eclecticism here, bringing all these styles to bear on tracks like
"Within You Without You"
(off
the Beatles
' 1967 classic
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
), expanding the
raga
-psych elements of the original into a
post-bop
wilderness of angular improvisation. Similarly,
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
goes from a woozily funky Indian beat on the main verse, to a drunken
soft-rock
bridge that sounds something like guitarist
Adrian Belew
covering
Burt Bacharach
. Also exciting is
"Taxman,"
which
turns into an off-kilter
boogaloo
on the main theme, only to morph into a driving and expansive modal exercise for the solos.
is an inspired, engaging and superbly executed tribute to a true music original. ~ Matt Collar