Nell
Robinson and Jim Nunally Band - Baby, Let’s Take the Long Way Home
Nell
Robinson and The Jim Nunally Band have followed up a number of high profile
live performances with their first full length studio album Baby, Let’s Take
the Long Way Home. It is a twelve song collection full of a wide array of
musical poses Robinson, Nunally, and their top flight collaborators flawlessly
pull off. These Bay Area residents share the spotlight with an assortment of
top notch San Francisco talent with long pedigrees like bassist Jim Kerwin,
pedal steel master Pete Grant, and percussionist Jon Arkin who’ve played with
iconic artists like The Grateful Dead, David Grisman, and Lee Konitz. The
performances on this release are sympathetic, lack even a hint of
self-indulgence, and roll past the listener with a calm self assurance that
draws listeners in from the first. The
dozen songs on this release make the case that this creative partnership might
be the best going in this style today.
It
crackles and sparkles with life throughout all twelve songs. The title track
eases listeners into their musical world with its alternating between guitar
and pedal steel courtesy of respected guitarist Pete Grant. This is, obviously,
a band that has a natural interplay that never needs to be forced. This fact
leaps out at listeners with even greater clarity on the album’s second track “I
Hear a Southwind”. It’s one of Robinson’s best lyrics on the album, a fine
poetic invocation of self-reflection that she renders with some of the finest
vocal phrasing on this release. “Tempest” is one of the album’s weightier
numbers, but musically and lyrically, but Robinson and the band more than
answer the challenge with a lightly atmospheric and less-simple-than-it-sounds
backing. It takes many years for most musicians to develop the skills of
rapport that are demanded to pull this sort of music off and “Tempest” stands
as one of the album’s finest examples of the rapport existing between the
players and vocalist alike.
Some
interesting percussion opens “Pardon Me” before the song begins in earnest.
This is classic country with an effervescent sleekness that never sounds hollow
or unduly calculated. Acoustic guitar dominates many of the instrumental breaks
while the pedal steel provides valuable counterpoint for the verses and chorus.
After “Pardon Me”, the deluge. “I’m Brilliant” is far and away the unhappiest
moment on the album and has an unified mood quite unlike any other song on the
album. This depiction of someone struggling to cope with an alcoholic in their
lives doesn’t concede much in the way of hope, but its humanity is
unquestionable. “Shackled and Chained” has some a little bit of slide guitar
and a leaden pace that places it firmly in a blues mode. Nunally and Robinson
share lead vocals on this song and their voices are, respectively, laden with
enough dirt and hard-won wisdom that it all comes off quite credibly. These
songs will please longtime fans to have them all on one release and newcomers
will be astounded by its across the board strength.
9
out of 10 stars
William
Elgin
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