Chris
Bergson Band - Live at Jazz Standard (Independent)
Equalling the critical success of
previous releases ‘Fall Changes’ and ‘Imitate the Sun’ (numbers one and two
respectively in Mojo magazine’s Blues Albums of the Year for 2009 and 2011)
will have been a daunting challenge for the Chris Bergson Band; but while a
stop-gap live album re-treading past glories may have seemed tempting and
risk-free, ‘Live at Jazz Standard’ has an altogether weightier ambition.
Still a well-kept secret in
commercial terms, Chris Bergson is a serious and important artist. As the
popular music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries matures to the point
where its narrative can be accurately documented and its distinctive cultural
significance finally understood, the architectural foundations upon which it
was first built call for expert curatorial support. Bergson is one of a
dwindling number whose approach to that task is at once respectful, sophisticated
and progressive.
Critically, although embedded
unashamedly in blues, soul, jazz, folk and country, he neither wants to pickle
them in aspic nor dress them up in gaudy rags as if for a children’s party.
In drawing from a deep reverence
and intuitive affection for the indigenous roots of American music Bergson
follows the altogether more nuanced lead of Dr John, the Allman Brothers, and
Little Feat – the Grateful Dead even – who have moved American roots forward through
substantial yet sustainable increments rather than speculative leaps, combining
prowess and dexterity with awareness and erudition.
Hitherto, Bergson has built
sensibly and to good effect on the Woodstock Vibe template pioneered by The
Band, something few do well. This recording sees the start of a careful but
significant progression, which gives him a more distinctive shape and
individual voice. Stylistically, the set presented here (from which only two songs,
‘Mr. Jackson’ and ‘Gowanus Heights’ feature on recent studio albums) is
altogether bluesier and more soulful, with less of a default to jazz. A change
of keyboard player heralds more prominence for the organ and less bar-room
piano; and horns that previously honked now seem to blast. Both features add
welcome depth to the overall sound.
Bergson’s own guitar playing,
always excellent, is more upfront than before; and in showcasing a range from
acoustic delta to full-on electric rock it often acts in tandem with his vocal
as call-and-response. Bergson’s singing too has always been a remarkable asset,
but past recordings don’t adequately prepare for a performance which is one moment
Brook Benton or Bill Withers and the next the Tom Waits of ‘Christmas Card from
a Hooker in Minneapolis’. ‘High Above the Morning’ could well be the perfect
starting point to hear all this at once, a reflective and soulful song with
voice and guitar dueting like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Wynette, perfectly
underpinned by a wash of brass and organ.
The songs themselves are the familiar
combination of character driven stories (including the aforementioned ‘Gowanus Heights’
Altmanesque cast of Brooklyn faces, and the outstanding ‘Christmas Time in
Bethlehem, PA’), and personal musings (such as deep soul ballad ‘Chloe’s Song’),
occasionally laced with laconic humour (as is ‘Sometimes It’s You’). Range is
impressive too. Opener ‘Greyhound Station’ hits the tracks running with a blues
tour-de-force matching muscular guitar licks with wall-of-sound horns, to be
hotly pursued by the Stax-referencing soul-funk of ‘The Only One’; while ‘Heavenly
Grass’ pays tribute of a different
kind to the writer’s self-declared influences of Son House, Lightning Hopkins,
and Skip James.
Of the available raw ingredients
Bergson’s preference for merging blues soul and jazz (as against, say,
Springsteen’s leanings towards country, folk and rock and roll) may make his
work less of a commercial proposition than it deserves; but with the growing
confidence, immaculate playing, raw talent and flawless integrity on parade
here, a wider audience and recognition has to be his due before long.
Neil B.
