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Bruce Hornsby: Levitate

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Verve Records
Released: 2009.09.15
Time:
 50:57
Category: Jam-Rock
Producer(s): Bruce Hornsby, Tony Berg, Wayne Pooley
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.brucehornsby.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2015
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] The Black Rats of London (Bruce Hornsby) - 4:17
[2] Prairie Dog Town (Calvin Broadus / Bruce Hornsby / Chad Hugo / Pharrell Williams) - 4:14
[3] Cyclone (Bruce Hornsby / Robert Hunter) - 4:45
[4] Continents Drift (Chip Dematteo / Bruce Hornsby) - 7:23
[5] Paperboy (Chip Dematteo / Bruce Hornsby) - 3:03
[6] Invisible (Bruce Hornsby) - 3:37
[7] Levitate (Bruce Hornsby / Thomas Newman) - 4:09
[8] Here We Are Again (Bruce Hornsby) - 3:52
[9] Space is the Place (JV Collier / Sonny Emory / Bruce Hornsby) - 4:25
[10] Michael Raphael (Chip Dematteo / Bruce Hornsby) - 2:55
[11] Simple Prayer (Chip Dematteo / Bruce Hornsby) - 4:06
[12] In the Low Country (Bruce Hornsby) - 4:11

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Bruce Hornsby - Piano, Lead Vocals, Dulcimer, Accordion, Producer
J.V. Collier - Bass
Sonny Emory - Drums, Samples
John "J.T." Thomas - Keyboards, Organ, Backing Vocals
Bobby Read - Saxophone, Clarinet
Doug Derryberry - Guitar, Backing Vocals

Z. Berg - Vocals on [6]
Floyd Hill, Jr. - Vocals
Eric D. Jackson - Vocals on [2]
Tim Smith - Vocals on [2]
Blake Mills - Guitar on [1,3,9,10,12]
Eric Clapton - Guitar on [9]
R.S. Hornsby - Guitar on [4]
Andy Leftwitch - Fiddle on [1]
Keefus "Buddy" Ciancia - New Sounds on [7]
12-Year-Old Keith & Russell Hornsby - Vocals & Rap on [9]

Tony Berg - Producer
Patti Oates Martin - Production Assistant
Shawn Everett - Engineer, Mixing
Wayne Pooley - Engineer, Mixing, Producer, Road Crew
Stephen Marcussen - Mastering
Kathy Hornsby - Cover Art
Sachico Asano - Graphic Design
Hollis King - Art Direction
Katherine Fisher - Photography
Christian Amonson - Photography
Sean Smith - Photography
Carey Wilhelm - Photography
Lisa Hansen - Release Coordinator
Andy Kman - Release Coordinator
John Newcott - Release Coordinator
John Scher - Management
Evelyn Morgan - A&R
Caldwell Gray - Road Crew
Reggie Bankston - Road Crew
Peter Banta - Road Crew
Chuck Keith - Road Crew

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


If there were any doubt that Bruce Hornsby had completely redefined himself as a "do whatever I want to" musician rather than the pop/rock singer/songwriter he had appeared to be upon his popular emergence 20 years earlier, that doubt should have been dispersed by his two album releases of 2007, the bluegrass duo set Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby and the jazz trio session Camp Meeting with Christian McBride and Jack DeJohnette. That liberation accomplished at last, Hornsby unsurprisingly returns to the pop/rock singer/songwriter mode on Levitate, his first album since 1993's A Night on the Town to be co-credited to his backup band. But his old group the Range is long gone, replaced by an ensemble pointedly called the Noisemakers (John "J.T." Thomas on organ and keyboards, Bobby Read on reeds, Doug Derryberry on guitar, J.V. Collier on bass, and Sonny Emory on drums), who have been backing him as a unit since 2002 -- although some of the musicians have been with him since the early '90s -- and the sound of Levitate only occasionally recalls the Bruce Hornsby of "That's the Way It Is," "Mandolin Rain," and "The Valley Road." Instead, he and the Noisemakers come up with combustible jazz-rock arrangements revealing the influence of Steely Dan (notably on "Paperboy") and Brian Wilson ("Michael Raphael"), used to support sometimes bizarrely humorous lyrics, as signaled by the opening song, "The Black Rats of London." In truth, Hornsby isn't much of a lyricist, if only because he doesn't seem to know what to write about, and his songwriting has never recovered from the loss of his brother John Hornsby as a co-writer. The best songs here are co-compositions, particularly "Cyclone," with a strong, evocative, and characteristic lyric from former Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, as well as "Continents Drift" and "Simple Prayer," both co-written by Chip deMatteo. The album's unevenness also may be due to the multiple purposes that inspired the material, however. The music in some cases seems to have been written for different projects and retrofitted here: the title song (based on a theme in Thomas Newman's score for The Shawshank Redemption) appeared in a different version in director Spike Lee's film Kobe Doin' Work; "Invisible" is in director Bobcat Goldthwait's August 2009 film World's Greatest Dad, starring Robin Williams, in which Hornsby has a cameo; and some of the music apparently is intended for a Broadway musical to be written by Hornsby, called SCKBSTD. No wonder the album comes across as a collection of sessions instead of a coherent whole. Nevertheless, old-time Hornsby fans who fell away over the years might want to give this one a listen; it's closer to his singer/songwriter self than he's been in many years.

William Ruhlmann - All Music Guide



It is an oxymoronic but accurate statement that would describe Bruce Hornsby as a contemporary traditionalist. Traditionalist in the sense that his music is steeped in the heartland of America—a riverboat pianism with not only the blues, but also jazz and pop; a storyteller whose song vignettes portray the everyday lives of ordinary folk as heard in his many releases beginning with the multi-million selling debut album, The Way It Is (RCA, 1986). Yet he is a contemporary who is not stifled by the past or any idiom, whether performing a bluegrass version of Rick James' funky "Super Freak" on Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby (Legacy, 2007) or bopping true on John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" in the jazz trio release Camp Meeting (Legacy, 2007).

Levitate is Hornsby's eleventh release and projects the essence of what he calls the "joyful noise," his first recording with his longtime touring band, The Noisemakers. This debut on Verve, features 13 new songs, illuminating many of his diverse interests.

An outstanding pianist who can play comfortably in many genres, this release marks a "creative departure" for Hornsby with the music focused more on song and composition. This is reflected in "The Black Rats of London," a foot stomping tale with an American History lesson and "Prairie Dog Town," a delightful tune where the Noisemakers flex its muscle as Hornsby plays dulcimer. Both tracks are interlaced with humor, riveting music and thought-provoking lyrics.

Tracks such as "Cyclone," written by Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead (with whom Hornsby was a part-time member from September 1990 to March 1992) are reminiscent of the pianist's earlier works. But the urban street vibe of the title song- -an alternate version taken from Hornsby's score of Spike Lee's film Kobe Doin' Work (a 2009 documentary on basketball star Kobe Bryant)—prove Hornsby's flexibility in keeping the music diverse.

Several of the tracks are taken from the score of Hornsby's first musical, SCKBSTD, where songs like "Michael Raphael" and "Paperboy" introduce eccentric stories and chromatic structures. Juxtaposed against these are rockers such as "Simple Prayer" and "Space Is The Place" (with hip-hop rap from Hornsby's twin sons, Russell and Keith, and a blistering solo from guitar great, Eric Clapton).

The recording ends with "In The Low Country" in what Hornby calls a "Southern slice of life," depicting the joys of NASCAR, WWE, good times and good people. Levitate might be considered a mixed bag but it does represents a diverse recording from this enduring songwriter, performer and composer.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Mark F. Turner - October 27, 2009
© 2015 All About Jazz



When Bruce Hornsby cavorted with the Grateful Dead from 1990-92, he came to be known by the moniker “Spider Fingers” for his exploits on the keys. Hornsby’s musical legacy as a skilled pianist, lyricist, and vocalist grew out of piano arrangements that embraced both crisp, electronic production and the folksy storytelling traditions of the old South. Hornsby’s 2009 effort, Levitate, finds Spider Fingers’ piano rock in a compelling blend of samples and humming synths sandwiched between vintage keyboard movements and salty, nostalgic vocals moaning through a heartfelt primer on American myth. Beginning with “The Black Rats of London”, a revisionist retelling of the early American experience in Hornsby’s native Virginia and ending with the nostalgic final track, “In the Low Country”, the album crafts a portrait of the American landscape. Hornsby’s lyrics and twangy accompaniments tell a modern folk story rife with the essential American duality between injustice and prosperity.

Lively and at times dismal, the album levitates, so to speak, over a patchwork collection of Americana. The overarching narrative of Levitate is readily apparent in the album’s textures that resemble the contours of the modern American music landscape. A 21st century folk sensibility stems from a collection of tones that varies from a Neptunes/Snoop Dogg-derived drum sample on “Prairie Dog Town” to the smooth poppy edges of the title track to the Eric Clapton-assisted ensemble rock of “Space is the Place”. Ever the consummate performer and musician, the seasoned veteran Hornsby issues yet another fundamental album of well-aged and crafted rock.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Dan Johnson - 28 September 2009
© 1999-2015 Popmatters.com



Levitate is the tenth studio album by Bruce Hornsby. It was Hornsby's third studio album with his touring band, Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers, and was his first release with Verve Records. Somewhat a musical departure for Hornsby and the Noisemakers, Levitate features no piano solos. Many of the songs also feature lyrical motifs of science and nature. The title track was used in Spike Lee's documentary Kobe Doin' Work. Invisible was featured in the Bobcat Goldthwait movie World's Greatest Dad, in which Hornsby also made a cameo appearance as himself. Much like the 2004 release Halcyon Days, Levitate features guest artists and those close to Hornsby, most notably Eric Clapton, Hornsby's twin sons Russell and Keith, Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, and Hornsby's nephew R.S. Hornsby, who was killed in a car accident less than a week after recording a memorable guitar solo on "Continents Drift." The album has been dedicated to his memory

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