by John Book
Danny Green‘s latest project, A Thousand Ways Home (Tapestry) combines his love of jazz, classical, and Brazilian music to unite them and show that while assumptions make them sound distant, they can be much closer than you realize. His piano work is what solidifies everything, along with his compositions and arrangements, so when things sound a bit too intense at first, he and his musicians lighten up, only to return to that confrontation at a later time.
The core of Green’s group is drummer Julien Cantelm and bassist Justin Grinnell, but within these songs you’ll also hear saxophonist Tripp Sprague displaying his skills and gentle coloring to these tracks, mandolin player Eva Scow doing serious damage to these tracks (check out her work in “Unwind”), along with a string of guitarists, including frequent Scow collaborator Dusty Brough, alogn with Peter Sprague and Chico Pinheiro. There’s also a guest vocal spot courtesy of Claudia Villela.
What you will definitely hear in this mix of jazz, Brazilian, and classical songs is… well, while I’m not sure if it was Green’s intention, but you will definitely hear the roots of soul and funk music, which is an accumulation of different styles and influences which became what it is known as today. These are songs with grooves, beats and passages with different emotions and means of intent, along with emotions that are sure to remind listeners of different things along their musical path. Even though Green and friends show that in this existence we call life, even though there are many means of travel to get to a place we call home, sometimes home is much closer than we think. The music is perhaps about what’s in our immediate vicinity, and that our travels are simply variations on a theme. We’re here, we’re all going there, and we’re all… we. It’s you, it’s me, it’s we, and this album is the welcome mat to the vast home we are in, wanting, demanding, needing, desiring. Welcome home.
See review at ThisIsBooksMusic.com
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