|
|
|
|
Joe Henry: "Scar" |
 |
Joe Henry has been writing, singing, and playing guitar for 15 years now, but he's hardly a household name. The singer-songwriter has put out a myriad of albums in his fairly unheralded career, the most recent addition being Scar.
Henry's songs are long, and played out, but they hold the listener rapt for every second they are wafting through the air. Every note and lyric on Scar seems planned, as his ballads invoke powerful and vivid images. When listening to one of Joe's slower paced efforts, the mood can't help but fill the listener's mind with the image of him wearing a fedora, lurching downtrodden under flickering streetlights. To liken Henry to Billie Holiday, despite the gender difference, is hardly blasphemy to the late great jazz crooner.
But Henry can easily turn it around, and he shows his diversity of talent. Henry can seamlessly make the switch
|
EMusic FREE Trial MP3 Subscriptions
Market your band or artist
Get 100 Free 80's MP3s at EMusic
from wistful to jazzy without missing a beat.
He can dole out a poetic and perhaps puzzling tune such as "Mean Flower" on one track then hop to a harder edged offering such as the instrumental piece "Nico Lost One Small Buddha." The common thread though all his pieces seems to be his failures or successes with interpersonal relations.
Joe Henry is a rare gem, a male solo artist who writes and performs all his own material. Henry is a talented artist, but he won't have his breakout anytime soon. You might call him Ani DiFranco plus testosterone.
His coffee house musicianship is certainly enjoyable to fans of jazz, blues, and classical music. If you appreciate an artist with talent and enjoy relaxing music, Joe Henry's Scar is an unquestionably smart buy.
By Patrick MacDonald, CanEHdian.com
|
|
Submit a review, comment or article on Joe Henry: |
|
Express your views online: Do you have an article, album or concert review you wish to
share with others? Do you just want to simply comment on this review?
Submit it here! We will review
your contribution and potentially publish it!
| | |
Album review copyright CanEHdian.com 2001 (All Rights Reserved)
|
| |
|
|
|
Visit Our Sponsors |
|
|
|
