Now Then

Indie Pop / Avant Pop / Muzyka alternatywna
premiera polska: 2006-09-01
kontynent: Ameryka Północna
kraj: USA
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * * 1/2:
Na czwartej płycie Jeba Loy Nicholsa schodzą się wszystkie dotychczasowe elementy, znane z jego wcześniejszych nagrań. Nichols to artysta tworzący w starym stylu, który nabrał przez lata szlachetności.
"Now Then" nagrany został z wielką realizatorską pieczołowitością w Nashville i w Londynie przez Marka Neversa, członka zespołu Lampchop, także ich producenta, jak też płyt Willa Oldhama. Jeb Loy Nichols do współpracy zaprosił weterana Muscle Shoals - Claytona Iveya i legendę amerykańskiej soul music Dana Penna. Po nagraniu materiału w Nashville zabrali materiał do londyniu, gdzie nagrali basistę Wayne'a Nunesa (Tricky, African Head Charge) oraz chórki w wykonaniu legend reggae Roya Cousinsa (The Royals) i Struggle. Potem wrócili do Nashville, aby nagrać smyczki i dęciaki. Tak powstał materiał na płytę, o której Nichols powiedział "Dużo podróżowaliśmy przy pracy nad płytą, ale efekt jest wart każdej minuty. Musiało to być zrobione w ten właśnie sposób!"
Na "Now Then" uważny słuchacz usłyszy całe bogactwo inspiracji, od Boba Dylana, Ala Greena, Vana Morrisona, Carole King, Jamesa Taylora, Jacksona Browne'a po Marvina Gaye'a.
Poruszający, szczery, aksamitnie łagodny i absolutnie wspaniały album!

Fabulous, Fabulous, Fabulous ***** (Record Collector)

"This solo effort (…) is a lovely, wistful album." (Daily Telegraph)

The sheer spare elegance of NOW THEN is startling. (All Music Guide)

"His music reflects his wandering nature: it’s a little bit country, a little bit soul, a little bit reggae. It’s a beguiling amalgam, and one that deserves a wider audience." (Independent)

"If you like country-soul with the emphasis on soul you’ll be delighted by this record." americana-uk.com

Editors' info:
Born in Wyoming and raised in Missouri, Nichols absorbed the sounds of both rural America and the records played around his house. "We got it all", he says, "my mom played jazz records, Don Shirley and Ella Fitzgerald, while my dad played bluegrass and Hank Williams." But it was from the radio that Jeb recieved his most lasting education. Through the day and late into the night Jeb would listen and take to heart the disparate sounds of the airwaves. "The main station I listened to was out of Kansas City and played country music all day, then at nine o-clock at night they'd switch and become a soul station. It was magic, all this great music, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, The Staples Singers, all of it right there, in my bedroom, for free."

When Jeb was fourteen the family moved to Austin, Texas. "The best thing I learned in Austin", Jeb says, "was how great live music could be. I saw everything from Funkadelic to Bob Marley to George Jones to The Ramones." It was in Austin that he first heard, and was knocked out by, The Sex Pistols. "That was all new, the sound, the fury, the politics, all of it." And it led straight to the road again, this time to New York. "I was seventeen", recalls Jeb, "and New York was like nothing I'd ever seen. I'd always felt like an outsider and then there I was, in a town of outsiders. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven." In New York he was awarded a full scholarship to study painting at Parsons School of Design. He also started hanging out at clubs like Tier 3, The Loft and the Mudd Club where he became friends with members of the Slits and Neneh Cherry. "It was a great time to be in New York, the whole scene was so wide open." It was the emerging hip hop scene that was most fascinating for him. "It was 1979 - and nothing in the world was more exciting than rap. The Treacherous Three, Funky Four Plus One, Grandmaster Flash - that stuff was so great! And then you had DJs like Larry Levan, it was fantastic."

After three years in New York, Jeb hit the road again, this time to London. He shared a house with Ari Up from the Slits, Neneh Cherry and producer Adrian Sherwood, and, as he had in NYC, dove into London's artistic community. "I formed a country band with Joe Brack and we played every kind of show you can think of. We did some bluegrass, some country, a lot of old protest songs." In 1990 a tape of songs ended up at OKra Records, a small label in Columbus, Ohio. OKra offered Jeb a deal, and Jeb put together a band that included his wife Loraine Morley, On-U Sound man Martin Harrison, and jazz trombonist John Harbourne. The Fellow Travellers merged country-tinged, acoustic-based songs with a dub bottom. "It was fun", says Jeb "it just worked. We all played what we wanted and stayed out of each others way, and it sounded great. I've never had more fun." The Fellow Travellers released three more albums and were described in Spin as "the lonesome children of Merle, Marley and Marx".

In 2000, after releasing three solo records, Jeb Loy and Loraine Morley moved to Wales where they're slowly reclaiming ten acres of neglected scrub land, renovating a barn and putting in a large garden. "I'm sure I'll move again", he says, "but not just yet. This feels good, feels like something close to home."


"It's all about give and take," says Jeb Loy Nichols. "All about tension, about restaint." We're talking about his new CD NOW THEN, a collection of songs recorded in Nashville. "The way the country pulls at the city, the way the old plays with the new."

It's a remarkable record, a masterpiece of distilled soul. "This is the record I've been leaning towards," Jeb says, "all these years, all this moving around, all this listening and watching." Hard bargains and divided families, absconders and runaways, holy dread and love, it's all here. The record pulses with seductive stories that talk of shifting fidelities and damage limitation.

"I knew I wanted to make this record in Nashville", Jeb says, "because Nashville is nowhere I'd ever want to live. I love Nashville, but it's definitely not home. And I wanted that feeling of being unfixed. And I wanted to work with Mark Nevers." Mark Nevers, member and producer of Lampchop, producer of Will Oldham, seems at first an odd choice to work with. But "Mark's great," says Jeb, "the best in the world. I've known him for awhile and he brought the exact right feeling. Dirty and perfect and warm and unexpected."

The record was recorded in five days in Never's studio in Nashville. The band was a mix of young and old, Mark brought some members of Lambchop while Jeb brought Muscle Shoals veteran Clayton Ivey and soul legend Dan Penn. They then brought the tapes back to London where they recorded bassist Wayne Nunes (Tricky, African Head Charge) and backing vocals by reggae legends Roy Cousins (The Royals) and Struggle. Then it was back to Nashville to record the strings and horns. "More travelling," says Jeb. "but worth every minute. It had to be done that way - had to get that mish-mash of people, that gumbo."

It was risky, but it works. The record brims over with conversations between players, between generations, between countries and cultures. The same give and take that Jeb first heard on southern soul records is updated here. "It was great to be a part of it, to watch it. To listen to everyone playing off each other. That's the point - to tell stories, to listen, to be a part of something bigger and better than yourself."

muzycy:
Jeb Loy Nichols: guitar, vocals
Shaila Prospere: vocals
Dan Penn: vocals
Tony Crow: keyboards
Jennifer Carr: piano
Terry Baker: drums
Simeon Baker: bass
Tony Williams: guitar
Mark Nevers: guitar
Paul Burch: guitar, bass, vibes
Wayne Nunes: bass
Andy Hamill: bass
Fiona Hibbert: harp
Rebecca Hollweg: backing vocals
Loraine Morley: backing vocals
Roy Cousins: backing vocals
Dennis Bovell: backing vocals
Lloyd Barry: horns
George Chambers: horns

utwory:
Sometimes Shooting Stars
Really Together
Lelah Mae
Painted. My Dream House Blue
Bad Fruit
Let's Make It Up
Morning. Love
Black Water. Road
Don't Dance With Me
Ever Feel Like Leaving
When Did You Stop Loving Me

wydano: 2005-10
nagrano: Recorded in Nashville 2005 with producer Mark Nevers
more info: www.intuition-music.com
more info2: www.jebloynichols.com