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Harbor Lights

Bruce Hornsby - Harbor Lights Audio CD

A fair review of the Bruce Hornsby "Harbor Lights" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Bruce Hornsby reviews here, or go back to the Bruce Hornsby tabs.

Band: Bruce Hornsby
Title: Harbor Lights
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-04-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Harbor Lights 2: Talk Of The Town 3: Long Tall Cool One 4: China Doll 5: Fields Of Gray 6: Rainbow's Cadillac 7: Passing Through 8: The Tide Will Rise 9: What A Time 10: Pastures Of Plenty

This is what music should be!
I recently stumbled into this already aging album from an artist I had found only mildly interesting back in his late-80s heyday, and I knew I had found such music. All my life I've sought out music, across all genres, that I find exciting, moving, deep and compelling. "Harbor Lights", and its companion from two years later "Hot House" rank together as Bruce's masterworks, and establish him securely as both an artist and a pianist of significance. What kind of music is it? Well, I guess you'd have to call it rock 'n roll - but at its best, rock has always drawn from musical sources all over the map, be it jazz, gospel, country, or western swing, and it takes a musician as grounded and immensely talented as Bruce to pull it off with such seeming ease, so richly, and so satisfyingly. And his piano chops? Hands down, the best in rock history. Of special note: Pastures of Plenty is my favorite song ever by Bruce, because it includes all his best elements woven together, and is made even more memorable by Jerry Garcia's guitar solo. .

PASTURES OF PLENTY
This is Bruce's first album after he dismissed his band, "The Range. This CD is excellent. " Bruce increasingly takes charge of his own music from lyrics to finish. I would like to suggest reading the reviewer "L. A. Scene" for a detailed account. I would have little to add to this great review. I do want to highlight "What a Time" with very funny lyrics and my favorite "Pastures of Plenty" with very deep lyrics AND with an excellent instrumental sound and melody, which for me were both phenomenal Category F5 tornado peformances on the piano--to say the least. You have to listen to them all the way through--until the very end. As I was listening to them, I was saying, "Oh my God! These two are heart-stopping, jaw-dropping performances! They are masterpieces both in composition and execution. My only personal observation is that a slightly more sophisticated or muffled drums sound would have improved "Pastures of Plenty" since the slightly clangy sound infringes upon Bruce's piano playing, however this does not represent a recording observation in any way--I'm just a picky detail observer.

Listen to these songs on either excellent stereo equipment or on a good portable CD player (which is equal to excellent equipment) which will allow you to listen to all the original recording sounds--all the subtle sounds and delicate piano notes as they were recorded. Anything less than perfect equipment will give you less than perfect playback. The lesser the quality of stereo equipment, the more sounds get shuffled. The original recordings are always perfect. It's up to the stereo equipment to pick up all the sounds--with perfect balance and harmony. Bruce is a phenomenal musician, and the piano is the most noble of all instruments. All sounds need to be heard perfectly in order to receive maximum enjoyment from his music.

"Talk Of the Town" is really funny--Bruce likes to bring what's hidden to the light of day. "China Doll" is a delight, "Rainbow's Cadillac" is both beautiful and brilliant. "Fields of Gray" is a beautiful fan favorite, and "Long Tall Cool One" is another great listen.

In a VERY general way, I did like Hot House better as an album although both albums are superb.

This album is now available in a new 2008 edition. Check it out.
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Hornsby at his best!
Bonnie,Jerry,Jimmie, Phil and Pat. Buy it you will not be dissapointed. You will be blown away by the artists that are on this great album. A cd that gets better with age.

This is the one to get

Here's the deal. If you don't own any Hornsby cd's, and you're reading the reviews to pick one, this is the one to get. I bought "The Way It Is" and "Scenes From The Southside" as soon as they came out and listened to them everyday until I knew them backwards! I was totally hooked. And I went and heard the band play live a bunch of times and totally freaked out. They are great albums for sure.

When "A Night on the Town" came out either I was going in a different way with my tastes, or it just wasn't as good. I listened to it a bit, but not nearly as intensely as the first two discs.

Then I lost track of Bruce.

A half a year or so ago I was on a gig with a bass player who said he keeps "Harbor Lights" in his car disc-changer at all times. So I thought it was time to give him another shot. I'm really glad I did.

While the previous albums were great, and had individual masterpieces on them, this cd is the complete package. It totally flows from track to track with NO WEAK TUNES. I think this really is the best thing he's done as far as having all the facets of a great album covered. The writing is great, the performances are great, the recording is great, the mood of the whole thing is perfect. THIS IS CLASSIC HORNSBY.

I think this is his highest achievement as a recording artist.

I've gotten a few of the more recent ones, and they have some nice stuff on them, but this one is THE Hornsby classic.

There are certain albums I can always count on. If I have a long trip in the car, I know I can totally groove (and be totally musically satisfied) with albums like Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly"; Joni Mitchell "Blue", Elton John's "Tumbleweed Connection", James Taylor's "Mudslide Slim and the Blue Horizon. "

I'm proud to say that "Harbor Lights" makes it into my list of all-timers.

Hornsby Enters the Next Phase of His Career
In the case of Bruce Hornsby's "Harbor Lights", I think it's important to mention this at the beginning. When I put together a review, I normally try to mention something about the liner notes - positive or negative. The liner notes for this collection are simply outstanding and go a long way for helping you understand some of the new directions that Bruce takes for this particular collection. These liner notes do include lyrics, musician and production credits - all of which are important things. But, more importantly - there is a 2 panel write-up from Bruce himself that discusses some of the things he did differently. Bruce will give you his insight and context into each of the songs. This goes a long way into understanding this collection. With this particular review, I will try to add some additional perspectives on this collection and try to reference points that Bruce makes in his collection.

"Harbor Lights" marks the fourth album by Bruce Hornbsy. Hornsby pioneered something that has been called "The Virginia Sound". The best way I can describe this sound is a mixture of a lot of different genres of music: Jazz, Classical, Bluegrass, Rock, Country, and Pop. In the past, Hornsby incorporated a wide range of instruments in the songs to give this such a distinct sound: Mandolin, Guitar, Violin, Piano, and even Harmonica. On his first two albums ("The Way It Is" and "Scenes From the Southside"), if I had to pick a strong influence from those genres - I would probably lean toward Bluegrass. For his third album, "A Night On The Town", Hornsby began to emphasize Rock and to a lesser extent Jazz. For "Harbor Lights", Hornsby definitely turns things more toward the Jazz side.

Hornsby does a lot of other things differently as well. As Bruce indicates in the liner notes, this is his first album without his band - The Range. The lone holdover from The Range is drummer John Molo. Bruce also mentions that this is his first album where he took complete control of the Production Duties. He also mentions that this was recorded in his home studio in a very "loose" (i. e. jamming style session). One thing that Bruce doesn't mention is that most of the songs on this collection were written by Bruce and Bruce alone. On the previous three albums, Bruce's brother John would co-collaborate with Bruce on many of the tracks. On this collection, John only is credited with writing the words for 2 of the songs.

Usually when an artist decides to self-produce, work at home, and take on the majority of the songwriting - it sometimes proves to be too much. Phil Collins for his "Both Sides" album tried to make a true solo album in which he did everything (including play most of the instruments) and the end result reflects that it is too much. For "Harbor Lights", Bruce does enlist the help of some top musicians - the end result gives this collection a very good feel. The musicians included are Pat Metheny, Branford Marsalis , Phil Collins (who at this time was working on the "Both Side" project), Bonnie Raitt, and Jerry Garcia. The inclusion of Metheny and Marsalis make sense. Metheny is a legendary guitarist whose Jazz-like style fits very nicely with the Jazz-like theme of "Harbor Lights". Metheny contributes some of this great guitar work on "Harbor Lights", "Talk of the Town", "China Doll", and "The Tide Will Rise". Marsalis also has experience in working in Jazz/Rock fusions. Bruce had done a song with him during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. It was Marsalis' horn work that played a major role of Sting's Jazz-infused Rock album, "The Dream of the Blue Turtles". Marsalis contributes some outstanding horns on this collection to "Long Tall Cool One" and "Rainbow's Cadillac". Collins contributes both percussion and vocal work: "Talk of the Town" (bongos); "China Doll" (background vocals). Raitt's unique vocals are heard on "Rainbow's Cadillac" and "The Tide Will Rise". As for Jerry Garcia, he had started working with Bruce on "A Night on the Town". Bruce had actually worked with Garcia on some Grateful Dead Shows. Garcia contributes some nice guitar work "Passing Thru" and "Pastures of Plenty".

Hornsby's albums have always had some strong songwriting. His liner notes describe many of these songs beautifully. On previous works, we've seen sociological messages this on "The Way It Is", "Look At Any Window", and "Fire On the Cross". Hornsby is at no loss for this on this collection as "Talk of the Town" deals with an interracial marriage. Hornsby has always done a nice job at a "storytelling narrative" style in prior songs such as "The Road Not Taken" and "A Night on the Town". You'll hear this style on this collection on songs like "What a Time" and "Long Tall Cool One".

While the Virginia Sound might have switched directions, Bruce hasn't totally abandoned it. As Bruce says in the liner notes, the song "The Tide Will Rise" is about the Waterman of Virginia. You'll hear a bit of the classic style from his Range days on "What a Time" (i. e. a bluegrass spin). You will also hear some violin and viola on "Pastures of Plenty" - something that was more of a Hornsby staple in his earlier days. In fact, "Pastures of Plenty" really does a good job at the whole spirit of the Virginia Sound - the fusion of the many genres.

You can see a complete list of all Bruce Hornsby discography, or go back to the Bruce Hornsby tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.