Old Glory From July 2014

Jonny Teupen was one of the few who could make the harp swing. The late German musician, a classically trained harpist and composer who could play in an orchestra as well as any jazz band, enlisted top musicians from both jazz and rock to back him on this 1969 recording. The Günter Kallmann Choir, at the time internationally renowned, takes care of the nostalgic mood on Teupen’s relaxing “easy listening” compositions. What’s more, the nine-piece vocal group could come up with a swinging scat chorus. Teupen’s love for modern jazz is shown on the piece Harp Revolution; every member improvises over the theme and even dares venture into the realm of free jazz.

Bruce Springsteen once said he intended to make an album with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector where he sang like Roy Orbison, a nifty summary of many, but not all, of his artistic ambitions and a key to his appeal.

Bruce Springsteen once said he intended to make an album with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector where he sang like Roy Orbison, a nifty summary of many, but not all, of his artistic ambitions and a key to his appeal.

An iconoclast with a large, loyal audience and a long, very successful career, Neil Young has explored a impressive range of styles – from acoustic introspection and wistful country rock to blistering hard rock, electronic experimentation, blues, rockabilly, and heartfelt polemics – while sounding entirely like Neil Young at all times, with his engagingly craggy voice, his flinty sincerity, and unique gifts as a songwriter. Young's creative restlessness is a comfortable match for his prolific nature, and he's not averse to dropping his current fascinations for something else on the drop of a dime, which frustrates some fans but also helps keep his music fresh and full of ideas. Even when he's in relatively familiar musical territory (his electric music with Crazy Horse, his rootsy semi-acoustic work, the intimacy of his solo performances, his thematic albums focusing on life experiences and his take on the world around him), there's a spark of unpredictability that fuels his muse and keeps him in the present day despite a career spanning over seven decades.