Sean Taylor

I am, primarily, someone who listens to music for the music rather than the lyrics, treating the vocals as another instrument, but I found myself turning more and more to the lyrics here as what he is saying is so integral to the sound. And the vocals, as well as the rest of the music on this album, are gorgeous.

Sean Taylor crosses a lot of genres here, ranging from jazz, to Blues and Americana, even country, and throughout you can hear the quality and skill that is grown through over a dozen years of touring the world.

There isn’t any ‘loudness’ to any of this, the music being restrained and often simple, but it draws the listener in to its subtle beauty and I found myself completely enthralled by all 11 songs here.

The album opens with a sweet jazz piece, ‘It’s Always Love’ featuring Michael Buckley on sax and Mr Taylor’s husky, almost whispered, vocals over Mark Hallman’s bass and Hammond lines. That leads into ‘Lament For The Dead’ and he is showing a very different side as his guitar over Brian Standefer’s cello create a chilling backdrop to his vocals as he creates an uneasy and cold atmosphere.

Elsewhere he plays solo piano on ‘Nocturne’ and jaunty guitar against Mark Hallman’s pedal-steel on ‘Let Kindness Be Your Guide’, strikes an almost be-bop grove on ‘Back On The Road’ and closes the album on just piano and percussion as he recites the poetry of ‘The Heart Of The Ocean’ – a huge piece that took 15 years to get to the place where he could actually record it.

Then there is the title track, jazz piano and a real ‘hep-cat’ groove to it and something I could listen to for hours.

There isn’t a track that doesn’t bear repeating, no filler, nothing ‘thrown together’. It is gorgeous to listen to but rewarding to investigate too. Real class.