Whenever a band has been around for 27 years, it’s a
combination between the sounds of World Music, Folk, and Celtic Rock with
various traditions of European medleys combined with the countries of African,
Arabic, and the Middle Eastern touches thrown in. And one of the bands to carry
the sounds is a group from San Francisco called Tempest.
And while this is an introduction for me into their music, I
have to say that I was really impressed with their new album released this year
on the Magna Carta label called, The
Tracks We Leave. The title came from a proverb
from the Dakota Sioux, “We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.”
The quote covers between
the musical, spiritual and the environmental issues and Tempest have
captured the essence of that. There
are 10 compositions on here including a bonus track also.
And when I was listening to the new album, I could hear the
elements of bands like Strawbs, Steeleye Span, Horslips, and Fairport
Convention with a harder edge. There are five highlights on the album that demonstrate a joyous and dance-like beauty that Tempest
displays here. Their take of poet Robert Burns traditional Scottish song of the
opener, Rantin’ Rovin’ Robin is an excellent way to start things off.
Both Lief Sorbye, the founding member of the
group along with and on Fiddle/Vocals Kathy Buys, go into a militant
sing-along, but with an exuberant feel at times it reminding me of the
Strawbs’ Part of the Union. Both Lief and Kathy pay tribute to the traditional song as if the piece
could have been used in the sessions for Bursting
at the Seams and it would have been a perfect fit for the album.
Fog on the Bay has thumping percussion introduction done by Adolfo Lazo followed by Lief’s
flute along with the organ sounds done by Robert Berry and Fossgren’s
bass line. And it makes the beat per minute go from 120 with a calm folk feel into
a dynamic hard rocking sound. Kathy’s fiddle and Lief’s flute bring the melody together at the climatic end.
Tempos change on The Brown Coffin. It
begins with a jazzy clean guitar introduction before the mandolin, bass, and
fiddle come in and the gain guitar sound for the
first minute and fifty two seconds. And then, it changes into a foot stomping, hand clapping
rhythm as Fossgren does a brief but amazing bass solo that has a funk rock touch before the band increases the groove voltage for an uptempo finale.
Ganesh is a very
interesting track with Tempest going into a Reggae sound as the song tells the story about the patron of the
arts of the god who is the lord of beginnings, bringing good fortune along with
joy, protection, and harmony. The melody however is spirited and vibrant. And I
could tell that they are having a blast while have a great time on this composition
written by Lief and his wife Patricia Reynolds.
September Jig is a highlight for me. I just love their improvisation on here as the
band are from Celtic Folk into Jazz in the
midsection. It is almost a perfect combination that Tempest
is doing. And it gives Lief and the band members a chance to go into their own
ideas in the instrumental piece. Buys is enjoying some amazing solo work on her instrument
while Greg Jones and Josh and Adolfo Lazo do a bit of the Jazz walking line in
the piece. It has this mellowing dance-line for a couple of seconds and then its
back into the foot-stomping groove again before Adolfo Lazo does a drum solo
for a stop-and-go moment and they close it off with a bang.
I really enjoyed listening to Tempest’s The Tracks We Leave. And after listening about five times, its an amazing yet high-spirited release this year. And
even though I’m not a huge Celtic Rock fan, I do respect the genre very well.
So if you are ready to have a blast with lively dance tunes set to a melodic energetic music, then get ready for the music of Tempest. You will not be
disappointed.
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