Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Recording Reviews: 'American Legacies' (Available Now!)

Well, the new album's been available for less than 24 hours, and already folks have some great things to say about our wonderful crossover recording.  Check out some of the great reviews!


 Preservation Jazz Hall Band & Del McCoury Band
American Legacies
(McCoury Music)
Rating: ★★★½☆
By Jon Stone April 12th, 2011 at 7:00 am
 
“The band’s in town; they come to play.”

Last year Del McCoury appeared on The Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s star-studded benefit record Preservation singing “After You’ve Gone.” Despite the spirited contributions on that release from both old and new-guard artists (Merle Haggard, Steve Earl, Jim James, Andrew Bird, etc.), McCoury’s weathered “high-and-lonesome” bluegrass voice finds immediate and arresting chemistry with the now 50-year-old Preservation Hall jazz tradition. There must have been a lightning-rod moment sometime during that session where both parties knew that an additional album project was an inevitable necessity. American Legacies is the happy result. The record elaborates on the formula that worked so well on the initial team-up, but this time brings Del McCoury’s band to the party completing the crossover circuit and proving once and for all that ideological and traditional borders between bluegrass and jazz are not only mutable but are largely imaginary.

American music is funny that way. One doesn’t have to go back very far before the faded musical familial lines between estranged cousins become undeniably distinct. In this way, when Del McCoury and his band start playing with the musicians in the Preservation Hall at New Orleans, there is an easiness to the collaboration – one due, surely, to the talent of both bands, but also with a sense of ease that sounds and feels like musical reunion...

Good Times And Great Spirits Await With The Preservation Hall Jazz Band & The Del McCoury Band!

Grab a cold one, some great food and wonderful friends because a plethora of musical fun awaits with the American Legacies and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band & The Del McCoury Band! Separately, these musical geniuses have made it their life long objective to preserve traditional American music with tremendous skill, faith and drive within their respective genres. Now, lords of New Orleans jazz meet legends of bluegrass in one of the most compelling collaborations of 2011.

 With McCoury’s smooth and signature tenor, fresh and clean clarinets, fun and diverse fiddles and bangin’ banjos, one can clearly hear the musical magic that was created within the release.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band & The Del McCoury Band explore common and diverse ground to bring a credible and fresh balance of bluegrass and jazz in this project. Multiple artists combine their creativity and luster into a rich musical mix of distinctive American musical forms.

Known as ambassadors of bluegrass, the Del McCoury Band is fronted by veteran Del McCoury, a legendary front man of bluegrass who has been enthralling audiences since the 1980s.

With such songs as ‘A Good Gal,’ ‘Jambalaya,’ ‘The Band’s In Town,’ and ‘I’ll Fly Away,’ one clearly hears the merging of greatness and songs that respectfully exude joy and vibrance...

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