MARC COHN
''JOIN THE PARADE''
OCTOBER 9 2007
47:04
1/Listening to Levon
Marc Cohn/4:47
2/The Calling (Charlie Christian's Tune)
Marc Cohn/4:54
3/Dance Back from the Grave
Marc Cohn/4:43
4/If I Were an Angel
Marc Cohn/5:51
5/Let Me Be Your Witness
Marc Cohn / Kenny White/4:31
6/Live Out the String
Marc Cohn/4:23
7/Giving Up the Ghost
Marc Cohn / John Leventhal/3:45
8/Join the Parade
Malcolm Burn / Marc Cohn / Kevin Salem/4:32
9/My Sanctuary
Marc Cohn/5:50
10/Life Goes On
Marc Cohn/3:48
Stephen Barber/String Arrangements
David Barrett/Mellotron
Jay Bellerose/Drums
Sharon Bryant/Vocals (Background)
Malcolm Burn/Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion
Greg Cohen/Bass (Acoustic)
Marc Cohn/Drum Machine, Guitar (Acoustic), Keyboards, Piano, Tack Piano, Vocals
Jennifer Condos/Bass
N'Dea Davenport/Vocals (Background)
Bill Dillon/Guitar
Charley Drayton/Drums, Vocals (Background)
Shane Fontayne/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Baritone), Guitar (Bass), National Steel Guitar, Tremolo
Amy Helm/Vocals (Background)
Jim Keltner/Drums
Danny Kortchmar/Guitar
Shelby Lynne/Vocal Harmony, Vocals (Background)
Paulette McWilliams/Vocals (Background)
Cindy Mizelle/Vocals (Background)
Charlie Sexton/6-String Bass, Bass, Bass (Upright), Bouzouki, Cello, Drums, Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Baritone), Guitar (Electric),
Guitar (Resonator), Guitar Loops, Keyboards, Loops, Percussion, Piano, Pump Bass, Slide Guitar, Violin, Vocal Harmony, Vocals (Background), Wurlitzer
Jerome Smith/Trombone
Sebastian Steinberg/Bass (Acoustic), Bass (Upright)
Rose Stone/Vocals (Background)
Benmont Tench/Keyboards, Organ, Organ (Hammond), Wurlitzer
Patrick Warren/Chamberlin, Keyboards, Pump Organ
Kenny White/Wurlitzer
REVIEW
by Thom Jurek
Marc Cohn takes some chances this time out. The sound, while inviting, is generally a bit rougher and dirtier than on his other albums -- thank goodness. His manner of writing has shifted as well, from well-clipped phrases (still present on the album's beautiful gospel and soul-tinged opener, "Listening to Leon") to places where the ends of his lines become absorbed into the instrumental backing. And yes, it is a very good thing. Excellent examples are on the moody second cut, "The Calling (Charlie Christian's Tune)," where Charlie Sexton's loops, the two drummers playing counterpoint shuffles, Benmont Tench on B-3, and Patrick Warren on Chamberlin and pump organ wrap his voice inside an atmosphere of such warmth and depth that the singer gets seduced by his own tale. There's real interaction here, not just a singer and a backing band. Sexton's electric guitar and Shane Fontayne's strumming acoustic give Cohn the ability to let himself get lost in all this support. And underneath it all is Jennifer Condos' bass, inching the story along. The backing vocals by Charley Drayton and Ephram Owens' muted trumpet solo bring everybody to the table, and the story unfolds like one told in close quarters. "Dance Back from the Grave" brings a sinister, distorted, controlled snarl with Sexton's guitars, the acoustic bassline, the drummers, the horns, and Cohn's world-weary voice, sounding like he's on the edge of some precipice calling like a prophet into the heavens, hells, and other realms for the dead of New Orleans to rise and make their way back to Congo Square for one more night, for a proper sendoff. The Holmes Brothers' deep, sweet three-part harmonies (with Popsy Dixon's gorgeous falsetto riding the top) transform a rather ordinary, bluesy Southern blue-eyed soul tune into something wholly other.
While the first four tunes are engaged with memory, regret, and amends for past misdeeds, "Let Me Be Your Witness" is one of affirmation with a three-part backing female chorus that includes Shelby Lynne and the inimitable Paulette McWilliams and Sharon Bryant. Cohn's piano whispers as Sexton and Fontayne's guitars stroll it out with Tench's B-3 and Condos' bassline fueled by those two drummers. It's gospel, but it's the human gospel: "When no one sees and no one hears/Your secret heart/Your bitter tears/When it feels like you're sinking in the sand/When you can't remember who you are/You wonder how you came this far/Call my name and put me on the stand...." The chorus calls out "Let me be your witness" and Cohn responds like a preacher to every line: "To your mystery/To your ecstasy/...I will testify/To your longest night...." "Giving Up the Ghost," written with former producer John Leventhal, features Lynne in a harmony vocal performance. Fontayne's National Steel is drenched in otherworldly tones underscored by Warren's keyboards, Sexton's live guitar loops, a bouzouki and cello, and those two drummers whispering in the spirits as Cohn's protagonist joins them in a story of the ultimate surrender of lost love. It's chilling, sad, and so utterly picaresque and beautiful that the listener can see the story unfold and witness this forlorn and busted heart trying to come to grips with that loss, only to be drawn in again: "Now I'm feeling much better/But I'm still on the brink/I just got a letter/In vanishing ink."
These images of ghosts and grinning shadows permeate the album, but they speak in flesh and blood: Cohn's. He walks between worlds, or at least sees between them seemingly without effort, wrapping his words in melodies so moody and seductive, inhabited as they are by sounds and spaces never heard before in his recordings, that they draw the listener in nearly obsessively. Acceptance seems to be the key for bittersweet memory, righting wrongs, and finding a safe place to be in a world that is unsafe. Just ask those who are forgotten and have seen it at its worst -- check out "My Sanctuary," yet another song for New Orleans, about the hurricane and the water and the death and its backbone. The Holmes Brothers become the choir as drummers, hand percussion, guitars, organs, Jerome Smith's trombone, and Owens' flügelhorn underscore not only the marching of the funerals through the streets, but the resilience of the place itself. The final cut is a whispered prayer of earthly wisdom about the movement of time and life, despite losses that may be so great that one cannot conceive of living with them. It's a final hymn of acceptance with the Tosca String Quartet underscoring Cohn's words and piano, and a small band to pick up the slack. Quietly speaking with the authority of a Buddhist sage, Cohn is so sure of this truth that he moves it right out of the track and into the heart of the listener. Cohn may have taken years, and driven himself crazy with various versions of these songs, but in the end it all comes down to that last track and what it offers: solace in acceptance. Join the Parade, as an album, is the strongest record he's cut. Let's hope somebody hears it.
BIOGRAPHY
by Kelly McCartney
One Sunday morning in the early '70s, a youngster in Cleveland caught an earful of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks and his life was never to be the same. That kid was Marc Cohn, and soon after that morning, he bought everything Morrison had released to date, along with works by Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne. Soon thereafter, an older brother taught him a Ray Charles tune on the piano, and he joined a cover band, Doanbrook Hotel. He sang with them from junior high school until he left home for Oberlin College. All the while, Cohn learned to play guitar and was dabbling with the craft of songwriting, since the cover band played everything but the kind of songs he loved so dearly.
At Oberlin, Cohn taught himself to play piano and a lasting bond formed. After transferring to UCLA, he hit the Los Angeles coffeehouse circuit. Cohn then made yet another move, this time to New York to be with his fiancée, and he formed the Supreme Court, a 14-piece band complete with horn section. Putting unusual spins on popular tunes, the band gained a following that included Carly Simon, who recommended they play at Caroline Kennedy's wedding. That gig seemed like a good stopping point, and Cohn left the band to focus once again on his own songs.
He sent a piano/vocal demo to Atlantic Records and landed a deal, and from there he co-produced his debut with Ben Wisch with some assistance from John Leventhal. What emerged was a beautifully tasteful and intelligent album that included the hit "Walking in Memphis" and won Cohn a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The Rainy Season followed in 1993 and was a thematic complement to Cohn's debut. Folks like David Crosby and Graham Nash stepped up to the mike to lend their vocal support to this soulful new talent.
Cohn was quiet for several years, returning in 1998 with the release of Burning the Daze. Another studio hiatus followed, during which he released an independent live compilation. Cohn was also shot in the head when victimized by an attempted carjacking -- thankfully, the musician recovered, and he subsequently released Join the Parade, perhaps his strongest effort to date, in 2007. In 2010, Cohn returned with Listening Booth: 1970, a collection of cover songs that were originally released during the titular year. In addition to crossing genres from rock to soul to folk and pop, it features vocal performances from India.Arie, Jim Lauderdale, Aimee Mann, and Kristina Train on a third of the album's dozen tracks.
''JOIN THE PARADE''
OCTOBER 9 2007
47:04
1/Listening to Levon
Marc Cohn/4:47
2/The Calling (Charlie Christian's Tune)
Marc Cohn/4:54
3/Dance Back from the Grave
Marc Cohn/4:43
4/If I Were an Angel
Marc Cohn/5:51
5/Let Me Be Your Witness
Marc Cohn / Kenny White/4:31
6/Live Out the String
Marc Cohn/4:23
7/Giving Up the Ghost
Marc Cohn / John Leventhal/3:45
8/Join the Parade
Malcolm Burn / Marc Cohn / Kevin Salem/4:32
9/My Sanctuary
Marc Cohn/5:50
10/Life Goes On
Marc Cohn/3:48
Stephen Barber/String Arrangements
David Barrett/Mellotron
Jay Bellerose/Drums
Sharon Bryant/Vocals (Background)
Malcolm Burn/Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion
Greg Cohen/Bass (Acoustic)
Marc Cohn/Drum Machine, Guitar (Acoustic), Keyboards, Piano, Tack Piano, Vocals
Jennifer Condos/Bass
N'Dea Davenport/Vocals (Background)
Bill Dillon/Guitar
Charley Drayton/Drums, Vocals (Background)
Shane Fontayne/Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Baritone), Guitar (Bass), National Steel Guitar, Tremolo
Amy Helm/Vocals (Background)
Jim Keltner/Drums
Danny Kortchmar/Guitar
Shelby Lynne/Vocal Harmony, Vocals (Background)
Paulette McWilliams/Vocals (Background)
Cindy Mizelle/Vocals (Background)
Charlie Sexton/6-String Bass, Bass, Bass (Upright), Bouzouki, Cello, Drums, Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Baritone), Guitar (Electric),
Guitar (Resonator), Guitar Loops, Keyboards, Loops, Percussion, Piano, Pump Bass, Slide Guitar, Violin, Vocal Harmony, Vocals (Background), Wurlitzer
Jerome Smith/Trombone
Sebastian Steinberg/Bass (Acoustic), Bass (Upright)
Rose Stone/Vocals (Background)
Benmont Tench/Keyboards, Organ, Organ (Hammond), Wurlitzer
Patrick Warren/Chamberlin, Keyboards, Pump Organ
Kenny White/Wurlitzer
REVIEW
by Thom Jurek
Marc Cohn takes some chances this time out. The sound, while inviting, is generally a bit rougher and dirtier than on his other albums -- thank goodness. His manner of writing has shifted as well, from well-clipped phrases (still present on the album's beautiful gospel and soul-tinged opener, "Listening to Leon") to places where the ends of his lines become absorbed into the instrumental backing. And yes, it is a very good thing. Excellent examples are on the moody second cut, "The Calling (Charlie Christian's Tune)," where Charlie Sexton's loops, the two drummers playing counterpoint shuffles, Benmont Tench on B-3, and Patrick Warren on Chamberlin and pump organ wrap his voice inside an atmosphere of such warmth and depth that the singer gets seduced by his own tale. There's real interaction here, not just a singer and a backing band. Sexton's electric guitar and Shane Fontayne's strumming acoustic give Cohn the ability to let himself get lost in all this support. And underneath it all is Jennifer Condos' bass, inching the story along. The backing vocals by Charley Drayton and Ephram Owens' muted trumpet solo bring everybody to the table, and the story unfolds like one told in close quarters. "Dance Back from the Grave" brings a sinister, distorted, controlled snarl with Sexton's guitars, the acoustic bassline, the drummers, the horns, and Cohn's world-weary voice, sounding like he's on the edge of some precipice calling like a prophet into the heavens, hells, and other realms for the dead of New Orleans to rise and make their way back to Congo Square for one more night, for a proper sendoff. The Holmes Brothers' deep, sweet three-part harmonies (with Popsy Dixon's gorgeous falsetto riding the top) transform a rather ordinary, bluesy Southern blue-eyed soul tune into something wholly other.
While the first four tunes are engaged with memory, regret, and amends for past misdeeds, "Let Me Be Your Witness" is one of affirmation with a three-part backing female chorus that includes Shelby Lynne and the inimitable Paulette McWilliams and Sharon Bryant. Cohn's piano whispers as Sexton and Fontayne's guitars stroll it out with Tench's B-3 and Condos' bassline fueled by those two drummers. It's gospel, but it's the human gospel: "When no one sees and no one hears/Your secret heart/Your bitter tears/When it feels like you're sinking in the sand/When you can't remember who you are/You wonder how you came this far/Call my name and put me on the stand...." The chorus calls out "Let me be your witness" and Cohn responds like a preacher to every line: "To your mystery/To your ecstasy/...I will testify/To your longest night...." "Giving Up the Ghost," written with former producer John Leventhal, features Lynne in a harmony vocal performance. Fontayne's National Steel is drenched in otherworldly tones underscored by Warren's keyboards, Sexton's live guitar loops, a bouzouki and cello, and those two drummers whispering in the spirits as Cohn's protagonist joins them in a story of the ultimate surrender of lost love. It's chilling, sad, and so utterly picaresque and beautiful that the listener can see the story unfold and witness this forlorn and busted heart trying to come to grips with that loss, only to be drawn in again: "Now I'm feeling much better/But I'm still on the brink/I just got a letter/In vanishing ink."
These images of ghosts and grinning shadows permeate the album, but they speak in flesh and blood: Cohn's. He walks between worlds, or at least sees between them seemingly without effort, wrapping his words in melodies so moody and seductive, inhabited as they are by sounds and spaces never heard before in his recordings, that they draw the listener in nearly obsessively. Acceptance seems to be the key for bittersweet memory, righting wrongs, and finding a safe place to be in a world that is unsafe. Just ask those who are forgotten and have seen it at its worst -- check out "My Sanctuary," yet another song for New Orleans, about the hurricane and the water and the death and its backbone. The Holmes Brothers become the choir as drummers, hand percussion, guitars, organs, Jerome Smith's trombone, and Owens' flügelhorn underscore not only the marching of the funerals through the streets, but the resilience of the place itself. The final cut is a whispered prayer of earthly wisdom about the movement of time and life, despite losses that may be so great that one cannot conceive of living with them. It's a final hymn of acceptance with the Tosca String Quartet underscoring Cohn's words and piano, and a small band to pick up the slack. Quietly speaking with the authority of a Buddhist sage, Cohn is so sure of this truth that he moves it right out of the track and into the heart of the listener. Cohn may have taken years, and driven himself crazy with various versions of these songs, but in the end it all comes down to that last track and what it offers: solace in acceptance. Join the Parade, as an album, is the strongest record he's cut. Let's hope somebody hears it.
BIOGRAPHY
by Kelly McCartney
One Sunday morning in the early '70s, a youngster in Cleveland caught an earful of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks and his life was never to be the same. That kid was Marc Cohn, and soon after that morning, he bought everything Morrison had released to date, along with works by Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne. Soon thereafter, an older brother taught him a Ray Charles tune on the piano, and he joined a cover band, Doanbrook Hotel. He sang with them from junior high school until he left home for Oberlin College. All the while, Cohn learned to play guitar and was dabbling with the craft of songwriting, since the cover band played everything but the kind of songs he loved so dearly.
At Oberlin, Cohn taught himself to play piano and a lasting bond formed. After transferring to UCLA, he hit the Los Angeles coffeehouse circuit. Cohn then made yet another move, this time to New York to be with his fiancée, and he formed the Supreme Court, a 14-piece band complete with horn section. Putting unusual spins on popular tunes, the band gained a following that included Carly Simon, who recommended they play at Caroline Kennedy's wedding. That gig seemed like a good stopping point, and Cohn left the band to focus once again on his own songs.
He sent a piano/vocal demo to Atlantic Records and landed a deal, and from there he co-produced his debut with Ben Wisch with some assistance from John Leventhal. What emerged was a beautifully tasteful and intelligent album that included the hit "Walking in Memphis" and won Cohn a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The Rainy Season followed in 1993 and was a thematic complement to Cohn's debut. Folks like David Crosby and Graham Nash stepped up to the mike to lend their vocal support to this soulful new talent.
Cohn was quiet for several years, returning in 1998 with the release of Burning the Daze. Another studio hiatus followed, during which he released an independent live compilation. Cohn was also shot in the head when victimized by an attempted carjacking -- thankfully, the musician recovered, and he subsequently released Join the Parade, perhaps his strongest effort to date, in 2007. In 2010, Cohn returned with Listening Booth: 1970, a collection of cover songs that were originally released during the titular year. In addition to crossing genres from rock to soul to folk and pop, it features vocal performances from India.Arie, Jim Lauderdale, Aimee Mann, and Kristina Train on a third of the album's dozen tracks.
