..:: audio-music dot info ::..


Main Page      The Desert Island      Copyright Notice
 Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz


Bruce Hornsby: Rehab Reunion

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Universal Music
Released: 2016.06.17
Time:
 47:20
Category: Rock
Producer(s): Bruce Hornsby
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.brucehornsby.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2016
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Over the Rise (Bruce Hornsby) - 5:13
[2] Soon Enough (Chip Dematteo / Bruce Hornsby) - 4:41
[3] M.I.A. in M.I.A.M.I. (Chip Dematteo / Bruce Hornsby) - 4:14
[4] Tipping (Chip Dematteo / Bruce Hornsby) - 3:44
[5] Rehab Reunion (Chip Dematteo / Bruce Hornsby) - 3:13
[6] Hey Kafka (Chip Dematteo / Bruce Hornsby) - 4:17
[7] Tropical Cashmere Sweater (Bruce Hornsby / Robert Hunter) - 6:08
[8] TSA Man (Bruce Hornsby) - 4:31
[9] The Valley Road (Bruce Hornsby / John Hornsby) - 6:45
[10] Celestial Railroad (Bruce Hornsby) - 4:34

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Bruce Hornsby - Art Direction, Dulcimer, Mixing, Producer, Vocals
Sonny Emory - Cajon, Drums, Washboard
Ross Holmes - Fiddle, Mandolin
Jervonny Collier - Bass, Group Member
Gibb Droll - Acoustic & Electric Guitar
John "J.T." Thomas - Organ
 
Mavis Staples - Duet on [10 ]
Justin Vernon - Background Vocals on [1]
Moyes Lucas - Washboard
 
Wayne Pooley - Engineer, Mixing
BJ Burton - Engineer
Mat Lejeune - Engineer
Gavin Lurssen - Mastering
Chip Dematteo - Graphic Design
Kathy Hornsby - Cover Photo, Photo Booklet, Photography
Lex Selig - Photo Booklet
Sean Smith - Photo Booklet
Patti Oates Martin - Production Assistant

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2016 CD 429 Records/Savoy 16141
 
 
 
Following a high-profile 2015 run reprising his role as keyboardist for the briefly reunited Grateful Dead, Bruce Hornsby returns for another set helming his own band, the Noisemakers. With Dead appreciation reaching a modern-day zenith thanks to their 50th anniversary shows and subsequent introduction to a whole new crossover audience, 2016 is a good time for one of its family members to drop a new album, and Hornsby makes a solid case with Rehab Reunion. The band's last release, 2011's Bride of the Noisemakers, was a sprawling 25-song live double album that covered a wide swath of their capabilities, from freewheeling funk and jazz odysseys to the more concise heartland Americana of Hornsby's earlier days with the Range. Though performed in the studio rather than on-stage, much of Rehab Reunion has the same loose candor of a live album, even if it focuses on a very specific version of the Noisemakers. A latter-day staple of their live shows is a semi-acoustic mid-concert set where Virginia native Hornsby eschews his piano in favor of the Appalachian dulcimer. A staple of American folk and mountain music, the lap dulcimer is a rare visitor in rock music, yet through the grace of his musical mastery, Hornsby manages to shoehorn the four-stringed instrument's limited range into ten spirited full-band tracks that certainly aren't folk songs. The beguiling and serpentine opener "Over the Rise" unfolds over five minutes, building to dramatic crescendoes and featuring a nice guest vocal spot from Bon Iver's Justin Vernon. The lighthearted account of Hornsby's college years in Miami plays out in the rustic folk-rock of "M.I.A. in M.I.A.M.I." and shines thanks to some find organ work from bandmate J.T. Thomas. The Noisemakers fire on all cylinders on "Tropical Cashmere Sweater," another highlight, closing out the album on a high note with the soulful rocker "Celestial Railroad." Written nearly 25 years earlier in hopes that the song might be recorded by the Staple Singers, Hornsby gets his wish, dueting here with Mavis Staples.
 
Timothy Monger - All Music Guide
 
 
 
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Bruce Hornsby has completed recording a new album with The Noisemakers titled Rehab Reunion. The highly respected musician pushes the envelope once again performing solely on the dulcimer throughout. Produced by Hornsby Rehab Reunion reflects a refreshing approach to his songwriting further solidifying his reputation for uncompromising artistry. The piano-free ten song recording features the Noisemakers J.T. Thomas (organ), J.V. Collier (bass), Sonny Emory (washboard, cajon, drums), Gibb Droll (electric and acoustic guitar) and Ross Holmes (fiddle, mandolin) and guest stars Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) singing falsetto harmony on the first single Over the Rise and the legendary Mavis Staples singing a rousing gospel with Hornsby on Celestial Railroad 
 
Amazon.com
 
 
 
The Grateful Dead is cool again, although legions of Deadheads will tell you the band never stopped being cool. The latest wave of adulation comes on the heels of last summer's "Fare Thee Well" reunion shows in Chicago, as well as this year's massive Day Of The Dead tribute album, curated by The National. Pianist Bruce Hornsby had a hand in both. He performed with The Dead in Chicago — something he's been doing since 1988, including a stint as an official member of the band from 1990 to '92 — and he contributed a cover of The Dead's "Black Muddy River," a collaboration with Bon Iver ancestor DeYarmond Edison, to Day Of The Dead.
 
Hornsby can jam with the best. His solo material, however, has always had a more structured focus. His first big hit with Bruce Hornsby And The Range, 1986's "The Way It Is," succeeded in squeezing extended piano solos into a pensive, chart-topping pop song. And he's played and/or co-written smashes for everyone from Sheena Easton to Don Henley to Ricky Skaggs. On Rehab Reunion, his latest album with his current band Bruce Hornsby And The Noisemakers, the singer-keyboardist once again hits the sweet spot between joyful improv and immaculate songcraft.
 
What makes Rehab Reunion stand out from prior Hornsby releases is his weapon of choice; this time around, he's ditched the ivories in favor of a far folksier instrument, the dulcimer. In the album's title track, Hornsby's drift toward country music over the past couple decades is evident; there's a twang in the Virginian's voice as he and his band — Gibb Droll on guitar, J.V. Collier on bass, J.T. Thomas on organ, Ross Holmes on fiddle and mandolin, and Sonny Emory on washboard, cajon and drums — pick and stomp through a rootsy, lighthearted account of sobriety and the lack thereof. That playful vibe permeates "Tropical Cashmere Sweater" and "M.I.A. In M.I.A.M.I.," the latter a humorous, anecdote-filled account of Hornsby's tenure at the University of Miami in the '70s. Other tracks, like "Soon Enough" and "Valley Road," take on the more contemplative tone Hornsby perfected way back when with "The Way It Is."
 
Two high-profile guest stars grace Rehab Reunion with their presence. In "Over The Rise," Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon lends his ethereal grit to a lulling drone of Appalachian folk. And the legendary soul singer Mavis Staples brings gospel fervor to "Celestial Railroad," a soaring duet that Hornsby originally wrote in the early '90s, hoping The Staple Singers might record it. It took a quarter of a century, but it finally happened. Then again, Hornsby is by all accounts a patient artist, one whose earthy, unassuming music perennially finds a new audience. On Rehab Reunion, he's never sounded more relevant.
 
Jason Heller - June 9, 2016
© 2016 npr
 
 
 
A Bruce Hornsby album with no piano sounds sort of like a Chinese dinner without rice. Well, upon further consideration it may not be quite as crazy as it sounds. The man's career is defined by nothing if not restlessness, and he's managed to do something fresh and different almost every time out. The most surprising thing he could do would be to not surprise us somehow.
 
Rehab Reunion shows that that danger is as remote as ever. His longtime backing band The Noisemakers last appeared on record with the live Bride of the Noisemakers (429 Records, 2011), after which we've seen a solo movie score, the bluegrass jaunt Cluck Ol' Hen with Ricky Skaggs (Skaggs Family Records, 2014), a joint tour alongside the Pat Metheny Unity Group, the demanding virtuosic performances of Solo Concerts (Vanguard, 2014) and 2015's Fare Thee Well stint with the Grateful Dead. Along the way the band changed two members in 2014 to accommodate his gradual drift toward folk, trading steady saxophone for extra guitar, fiddle and mandolin.
 
Along with this shift came a habit of strumming a four-string dulcimer for the first couple numbers of each show, and the traditionally Appalachian instrument only helps reinforce the essential streak of Americana that's always run underneath all the genre-hopping. Its simplicity made a striking break from all that time at the piano developing two-hand independence skills and exploring all spectrums of tonalities. Approaching something so differently patterned (the equivalent of having only white keys, as he puts it) also provided a great means to push himself in a sideways direction, paradoxically finding liberation in self-imposed limitations.
 
The upshot is a vibrant record that refreshingly gives the sometimes-overlooked facets of his music their place to shine. Even with spider-fingers virtuosity left out of the equation this time around, Hornsby carries the proceedings singing with rustic charm and spinning sweet homey melodies left and right. Meanwhile there's still a good dose of instrumental playfulness on the part of the band as they enjoy exploring their new dynamic. A couple tracks include solo shout-outs and faint whoops that suggest they were recorded live, which is always a benefit where this crew is concerned.
 
He may sometimes be a bit too willing to stretch a rhyme for a low-key chuckle, but at least the weaker lyrics (the tacked-on jokeyness of "Tipping" and "T.S.A. Man") are balanced out by the fun factor of Southern-style Noisemakers bounce and stomp. Those tracks make just a slight dip in quality amidst a colorful range of unassuming hooks and beautiful choruses. Sugary Jerry Garcia-like guitar nestles together with down-home fiddling and an always-lively sense of rhythm. The album finds room for a twangy title track most likely spurred by past sojourns with Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, a smarter helping of silly wordplay with "Hey Kafka," and yet another reinvention of his perennial staple "The Valley Road"—now in its sixth different arrangement to date by my count, this one a lighthearted Dixie waltz complete with washboard percussion.
 
Hornsby wisely bookends the disc with its strongest moments. Bon Iver's Justin Vernon adds subtle vocal shadings on the elegant "Over the Rise," suggesting something optimistic in that charming way he has. At the other end the finale "Celestial Railroad" is also not coincidentally elevated by a guest vocalist, this time letting Mavis Staples lead a bright gospel singalong to bring us on up to the big house. It's a fine celebration, warmly inviting and blissfully unself-conscious; a fun capper to a fun album and another happy indication that there are more good times waiting around the bend.
 
Geno Thackara - June 11, 2016 
© 2016 All About Jazz
 
 
 
When I first threw on the new Bruce Hornsby album, Rehab Reunion, I didn’t know what to expect. Hornsby is a living legend in the music scene; he’s led his own bands such as the Noisemakers and the Range. In addition he was a prominent satellite member of the Grateful Dead in the early ’90s, filling the keyboard spot left by the tragic death of Brent Mydland. His sound draws from every genre under the sun, from jam band to Celtic bluegrass, R&B, gospel, funk, folk, soul, ambient, jazz, and beyond. He’s been an award-winning musician for decades now, and his influence is widespread over the current younger generation of bands looking to broaden their sound.
 
The first track off the new album starts out sounding like a medieval courtyard minstrel group, delicate and Old English-esque, adding guitar and percussion as it moves along before building to a wonderful crescendo that leaves you refreshed and eager for the rest of the record. The medieval theme continues throughout the album, providing the base that Hornsby uses as his launch pad for blues, folk, alt-country, and soaring psychedelic jams. You can definitely hear the lingering influence of his time with Jerry Garcia, and he weaves it together with classical folk string symphonies and infectious melodies that tug right at your heartstrings.
 
One thing I did notice particularly about this album is the joyful tone juxtaposed against sometimes depressing subject matter. It reminds me of traditional Celtic music I listened to as a kid, like the Clancy Brothers. Mandolins sing out brightly over the main verse chords, and it just makes you want to dance in the grass. It’s music that would be equally at home as the soundtrack for a barbecue, the background noise at a beach party, on a main stage at a summer music festival, a late-night bonfire jam in the country, or even just keeping you company on a rainy day inside. It’s very soothing, wistful and dreamy. I can’t wait to see it performed live.
 
Seriously, if you haven’t heard this album yet, do yourself a major favor and check it out today. It’s absolutely delightful, and it gets stuck in your bones more and more with every song. It’s the kind of album that makes you say “Wow” more and more the further you get into it. The music isn’t too complicated, but just complicated enough while being very accessible to newcomers and old fans alike.
 
Bruce Hornsby is a tremendously skilled musician and bandleader, and he continues to reinvent himself and provide something new and unique with each new record. Rehab Reunion is no exception. I’m only on my second listen and I already can’t wait to start it again. I hope this finds its way into your collection and brings you the same kind of joy.
 
Rating 9.5 out of 10
 
Pop-Break Staff - July 7, 2016
© Copyright 2016 Pop-Break
 
 
 
Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers have revealed plans to release a new studio album entitled Rehab Reunion through 429 Records on June 17. The group has shared the first single which features Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.
 
The piano-less 10-song set was produced by Hornsby (who wrote and performed exclusively on the dulcimer) and recorded in his Tossington Sound studio in Williamsburg, Virginia. Backed by a Noisemakers lineup composed of organist J.T. Thomas, bassist J.V. Collier, drummer Sonny Emory, guitarist Gibb Droll and mandolin/fiddle player Ross Holmes, the new LP also includes a guest contribution by Mavis Staples.
 
“Some may ask, ‘Why?’, ‘What in the world?,’” Hornsby said regarding Rehab Reunion. “What I’m doing here is not about virtuosity: It’s about a song and a singer. In my piano writing I’ve gotten really bored with triads. I’ve been that way for years. My piano writing has become more strange, chromatic and dissonant. But on the dulcimer I love the limited palette that you’re allowed to paint with. It’s just the white notes – it’s not even like a guitar, where the whole chromatic scale is on the fret board. On the dulcimer it’s just an old-timey instrument. It’s just scalar. So it limits your range and it makes you write real simple songs. I kept writing more and more. And all of a sudden the record needed to be made.”
 
Vernon and Hornsby also appear together with the former’s former band DeYarmond Edison on the upcoming Day Of The Dead Grateful Dead tribute album produced by members of The National. Vernon has expressed his admiration for Hornsby’s music a number of times, telling host Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on Late Night “There’s not enough Hornsby in my scene” prior to performing Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” whose original recording featured Bruce.
 
This summer Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers will perform Rehab Reunion as well as the classic The Way It Is albums in their entireties at the Hornsby co-curated inaugural Funhouse Fest.
 
Andy Kahn - Apr 8, 2016
© JamBase Inc.
 

 L y r i c s


Currently no Lyrics available!

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


Currently no Samples available!