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Folk, alternative, New York.

Sam Amidon has an uncanny ability to recontextualize the deepest, richest selections of folk songs with the colors of modern jazz and the avant garde, often infused with playfulness, humor, and absurdity. His music is both stirring and soothing; deep and gentle; grounded and exploratory.

The US musician leads an accomplished yet slightly bland living room session spanning traditional numbers and songs by Lou Reed, Yoko Ono and more

Raised in a Vermont folk family, and a fiddle prodigy at age three, Sam Amidon has built a substantial career by “relocating” folk music to unusual contexts, working with jazz and classical musicians in partnerships stretching from Bill Frisell to the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Salt River is a collaboration with producer and jazzer Sam Gendel – here mostly on synths – with percussionist Philippe Melanson also on board for a session recorded in Gendel’s living room, “huddled round the laptop like it was a campfire”.

It’s an eclectic if erratic affair, plucking numbers from deep tradition but with Lou Reed, Yoko Ono and Ornette Coleman also on the song sheet. Amidon plays accomplished guitar and fiddle and sings in an easy, unforced style, but vocal animation is not his strong point. The antique I’m On My Journey Home is delivered as if he’s coming back from the shops, only sparking into religious urgency on a massed a cappella finale. Reed’s Big Sky is transformed from rock bombast to quiet wonder, but Ono’s Ask the Elephant vanishes in a puff of whimsy while Coleman’s Friends and Neighbors lacks the original’s exuberance. As a domestic get-together, the album’s enjoyable enough, but actual magic is in short supply.

Tracks:
1. Oldenfjord 01:45
2. Three Five 04:18
3. Big Sky 03:59
4. Tavern 03:14
5. Golden Willow Tree 07:36
6. I'm On My Journey Home 04:16
7. Ask The Elephant 02:01
8. Cusseta 05:51
9. Friends And Neighbors 06:02
10. Never 04:41

Staat er compleet op, 10% pars mee gepost. Met zeer veel dank aan de originele poster. Laat af en toe eens weten wat je van het album vindt. Altijd leuk, de mening van anderen. Oh ja, MP3 doe ik niet aan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3iLnxklx5c