This career-spanning collection reimagines 12 classic Johnny Cash performances via new symphonic arrangements recorded at the fabled Abbey Road Studio 2 with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Performances range from archetypal Cash classics like “Man In Black” and “Ring Of Fire” to essential musical collaborations including “Girl From The North Country” (Bob Dylan with Johnny Cash), “The Loving Gift” (with June Carter Cash) and “Highwayman” (with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash).
Like Joe Henderson who released one beautiful CD after another in the past 10 years or so, Griffin plays here with gorgeous tone and overflowing musicality only getting better with age. I love the newer sax lions like James Carter, Joshua Redman, and Joe Lovano but Griffin, again like Joe Henderson, seems to be bringing out the qualities only possessed by those who came from 50s.
Over the course of five mesmerizing CDs, Unearthed shows us just how Johnny Cash's now-legendary handful of recordings for American Records came to be. Four discs feature previously unreleased tracks from the famed Rick Rubin-produced sessions. Through their inconsistencies and quirks (and, more often than not, brilliance), they shed light on how Cash's final records were shaped, edited, and produced. Here we get some creative pairings: Fiona Apple providing guest vocals on Cat Stevens' "Father & Son," and the late Joe Strummer duetting with Cash on Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."
Tenor saxophone, French horn, drums, two string basses; a change of pace, indeed, brought off with adventurousness and aplomb by Johnny Griffin. By 1961, when he recorded Change of Pace, Griffin had built a reputation as one of the most formidable hard-bop tenors. His greased-lightning abilities with the saxophone were well known from his work with Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, and the group he co-led with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis.
WANTED! Guitarist and singer Rockin' Johnny Burginhangs his fedora in the Frisco Bay, and harpman and singer Quiqué Gomezhails from Madrid, Spain. Together and separately they have ridden many a dusty trail with some of the last of the great Chicago bluesmen. Today they are the feared gunslingers of the international blues scene In the winter of 2018 they partnered up, galloped through the Western Territories, and took dead aim on twelve originals and two blues classics. Rockin' Johnny Burgin and Quiqué Gomezare both internationally acclaimed as world class bluesmen Burgin has a storied history on Chicago's Delmark Records, and Gomez is a versatile jazz-influenced blues singer who also sings Frank Sinatra songs with a Spanish Big Band. They are currently on tour in support of their first collaborative album, hopefully the first of many.