Offered with a rough-hewn, acoustic grace, Damian Joyce’s paean to the Big Apple unfolds with a warm confidentiality. But the beginning? Pure Keith Emerson.
The co-founding keys man from Emerson Lake and Palmer is featured on a classically inspired introduction, setting an atmosphere of romantic stoicism for everything that follows. Greg Lake, of course, once made similar kinds of folky contributions in the heady days of prog-rock prominence back in the 1970s — think “Lucky Man” — and Emerson worked similar oddhanded magic.
Seems after hearing Joyce’s stripped-down, very writerly pieces — the singer-composer is also a published author, having released the novel The Dreamer’s Road [Part One last year — Emerson insisted on making a contribution. “When You’re Around,” the lead single from Joyce’s new 13-track album Raw, is the happy result.
Raw was produced by Brian Kehew, a touring musician with the Who and former co-producer for Fiona Apple. The song, and this album, also feature contributions from drummer Chris Jago and bassist Joel Gottschalk.
[amazon_enhanced asin=”B00IKHVU18″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B009DJB7UQ” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”1492721255″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0016O3H86″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B003BSD2TY” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /]
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Rock + Pop): Death Cab for Cutie, Joe Jackson, Toto + Others - January 18, 2016
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Blues, Jazz + R&B): Boz Scaggs, Gavin Harrison, Alabama Shakes - January 10, 2016
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Reissues + Live): John Oates, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Faces + others - January 7, 2016
