MP3 Chuck Perrin - :44 Of Love
Acoustic old school soul meets jazz
9 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Jazz Vocals, FOLK: Modern Folk
Details:
Seduction is a sly art - a mysterious mixture of urgency & tenderness, passion & commitment, climax & afterglow. Once experienced, its memory invades our very core & continues to chase & tantalize us for the rest of our lives.
Acoustic guitarist/songwriter/vocalist Chuck Perrin ambitiously endeavors to capture the essence of this primal human experience in the words & sounds of 44 MINUTES OF LOVE. This is a true concept album, intricately layered & sequenced with care, using Perrin’s own compositions as well as classic covers by Bob Marley & Al Green. Told first person (I love that he gives us words to use as our own), his poetic lyrics are heartfelt, his singing is straightforward & sincere, & the musical sounds are clean, creative, & rock solid.
Perrin relies heavily on a first rate cast of collaborating musicians who seem to add just the right sonic touch where it is needed. Notable are the work of fretless bass virtuoso Michael Manring (Michael Hedges), the insistently passionate tenor saxophone of Hollis Gentry (Fattburger), & the plush pedal steel guitar crescendos of Greg Leisz (Joni Mitchell, KD Lang).
The music is soulful & smooth, yet rippling with urgency. The aural scenery is in constant motion, as songs flow organically into one another, becoming one 44 minute experience. If you want, you can let it pleasurably slip by, but I recommend turning it up & listening to it loud, letting the sounds encompass & invade your body.
After you live with a disc for a while, everyone finds favorite places. Here are mine:
· the opening to “A Letter Home” that overwhelms my speakers, & then the bell tones of Cliff Almond’s sensitive cymbal work caressing the song’s vocal
· Rob Whitlock’s Moog synthesizer solo on “Let’s Stay Together” & Chuck whispering “Come on darlin’, let’s goove” at the end
· the way the drums kick in on the second verse of “Heart’s On Fire,” the fat snare, & the Hammond B3 swirling in the background
· the sleigh bells near the beginning of “Turn Your Lights Down Low” (something Brian Wilson would do), the way the strings come in at the end, & just hearing another version of a Bob Marley song . . . I miss him!
· the inclusion of Jacques Prévert’s sensuous short poem “Alicante” & the slice of Left Bank Paris sound design that accompanies it
· the dreamy other world landscape that colors “Minor Blue Surcease.”
· lastly, the luscious guitar sounds throughout & the way they’re always changing.
44 MINUTES OF LOVE is a carefully crafted aural journey; a trip well worth taking.
--- Anabella Cerecini