Artist: Nelson, Willie
Label: Blue Note Records
Release: 2009
Duration: 45.31
Rating: 4/5
Willie Nelson, music legend, actor, poet, activist and American icon, just won’t leave the stage! At 76, the sentimental old-timer stubbornly keeps cranking out one great album after another, and as a rule they keep steering away from country. The gentleman’s softer side, no doubt helped along by age, has been piling up in recent years in the collecting, retouching and restoring of musical relics, and American Classic pampers us with them in the spirit of the famous Stardust. It’s a kindred, though certainly less risky, attempt at breathing life into 12 more or less familiar standards, which, dressed up in the “evening wear” of easy-going jazz under the baton of a first-rate interpreter and musical innovator, get a second spring.
That Willie Nelson knows his way around jazz waters was already proven by his collaboration with Wynton Marsalis (RockLine’s review of Two Men With The Blues is here). This time the flirtation with jazz is a little different in nature: it’s a rather subtle record that, with its stripped-down vocal basics, serves up plenty of smoky-bar ambience. American Classic reaches far back into musical history and, borrowing carefully from the treasure chest of American popular culture, takes us on a laid-back sonic journey full of touching nostalgic outpourings. Nelson’s sudden “transformation” into a traditional jazz crooner with a finely honed feel for atmosphere is convincing from the opener The Nearness Of You onward. The cover of the album’s oldest tune sets the tone for the whole record, which doesn’t allow itself any serious detour toward livelier rhythms. Fly Me To The Moon continues with a singer-songwriter approach, while the incredible tonal color of Nelson’s voice first becomes obvious on Come Rain or Come Shine and is rounded out even more concretely by the melancholy feel of I Miss You So.
Besides a bunch of great covers of dreamy jazz gems, American Classic also offers two interesting vocal collaborations that are sure to catch the attention of the younger generation of jazz listeners. Willie Nelson made a cunning commercial move by joining forces with Diana Krall and Norah Jones. With the former, Nelson builds on the intimate confessional feel of If I Had You, which “reads” like a first-class balm for the ears, while Baby, It’s Cold Outside drops us into a rather mischievous and cleverly rounded-out vocal dialogue that, playfulness notwithstanding, manages to stay within the album’s thematic and emotional frame.
Despite the unmistakable country stamp on Nelson’s musical path, which after all has remained the most recognizable component of his creativity for the past 40 years, American Classic stays stubbornly cemented in the soil of easy-going jazz. As always, Willie Nelson came up with an innovative approach that breathes new life into a handpicked set of popular music standards. The revitalization of the shine of these ancient musical pearls, which American Classic strives for so wholeheartedly, is a complete success for Nelson. And so the whole thing doesn’t come off as too retro, boring and uninteresting, or in other words, so the album has a better shot at catching the interest of that slice of young people who still make an effort to look for quality in music, there’s a welcome package of names from modern vocal jazz here, which, while serving up potential hits, will surely help satisfy even the most demanding music gourmets.
Line-up
Willie Nelson: vocals
Christian McBride: bass
Joe Sample: piano
Lewis Nash: drums
Mickey Raphael: harmonica
guests:
Diana Krall: vocals
Norah Jones: vocals
Production
Tonny LiPuma
Track list
1. The Nearness of You
2. Fly Me to the Moon
3. Come Rain or Come Shine
4. If I Had You
5. Ain’t Misbehavin’
6. I Miss You So
7. Because of You
8. Baby, It’s Cold Outside
9. Angel Eyes
10. On The Street Where You Live
11. Since I Fell For You
12. Always On My Mind
