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Ian Tyson
Songs from the Gravel Road
(Vanguard)
First Appeared in The Music Box, June 2006, Volume 13, #6
Written by John Metzger
In the early ’60s, Ian Tyson garnered widespread acclaim and recognition as
one-half of the legendary folk duo Ian & Sylvia, and over the years, his songs
have been covered by everyone from Neil Young and Glen Campbell to Judy Collins
and Crystal Gayle. After the duo disbanded in the mid-’70s, however, Tyson
temporarily retreated from the music business in order to ride in the rodeo and
work on his ranch in Alberta, Canada. When he did emerge with new material, it
was rooted in his love for cowboy culture, and it crossed traditional Western
fare with contemporary country arrangements.
It’s been six years since Tyson’s last studio recording, and his latest
effort Songs from the Gravel Road finds him once again changing
direction. Assembling a band of well-respected jazz and pop musicians from
Toronto’s music scene — guitarist Kevin Breit, saxophonist Phil Dwyer, and
trumpet players Guido Basso and Steve McDade, among them — he affixed his
compositions with arrangements that are as spacious and open as the Canadian
plains. Unfortunately, the ensemble’s cross-pollination of ideas doesn’t always
work. Tyson’s rustic tales, which occasionally are delivered in a half-spoken
fashion, don’t mesh with the airy sophistication of the instrumentation, and too
often, the collection sounds like an uncomfortable collaboration among
Willie Nelson, David Crosby, and
Sting. None of it is unlistenable, and on occasion,
the group does stumble upon success — the bubbly, reggae-tinged Range
Delivery; the radiantly wistful Land of Shining Mountains; and the
graceful, but somber Road to Las Cruces, for example. In the end,
however, Songs from the Gravel Road is an album with a promising premise
that largely remains unfulfilled.  ½
Songs from the Gravel Road is available from
Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006
The Music Box
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