Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Release Date: 04/24/2007
At the age of 63, poet, songwriter, composer and visionary
Robin Williamson shows no signs of slowing down on
The Iron Stone, his third set of recordings for
Manfred Eicher's
ECM label. The title, of course, comes from the song of the same name that
Williamson and
the Incredible String Band first recorded on the
Big Huge album in 1969.
"The Iron Stone" appears here with another of the
ISB's classic tracks,
"The Yellow Snake" from
Big Huge's 1968 predecessor,
Wee Tam. But this is no reinterpretation of
ISB tunes, nor is it a simple examination of
Williamson's career past. If anything,
The Iron Stone is a brave yet logical next step in the direction he has relentlessly pursued with
ECM. Whereas his first disc for the label, 2001's
The Seed-At-Zero, explored the work of
Dylan Thomas and other Welsh writers in songs and improvisational poem songs that he performed solo, the second set, 2002's
Skirting the River Road used
William Blake and
Walt Whitman as its muses, and employed the talents of
Ale Möller,
Mat Maneri, and
Barre Phillips, as well as
Paul Dunmall.
Möller,
Maneri and
Phillips return here; and
Williamson and
Möller play all manner of flutes, concertinas, Mohan Vina, harps, whistles, jaw harps, and drums between them. The feeling of continuity is here, as
Williamson and his musical collaborators set music to the works of
Sir Walter Raleigh,
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Thomas,
Wyatt and
John Clare to music that is as much of an improvisational nature as it is composed. In addition, there are songs and poems by
Williamson, which are realized by his association with this fine trio. Is this
folk music? Yes and no. It is organic music, played upon
folk instruments, and much of the source material comes from the lineage of tradition carried on from one generation to another.
That said, the spirit of adventure exists here more than it does on the previous two outings.
Williamson has grown increasingly comfortable with the postmodern
jazz idiom and its reliance on close listening, dynamic, and the uses of space and texture -- which, in its way, derives from
poetry itself -- that is on display here in spades. The tenderness and gentleness of the songwriter's heart are present here, along with his wondrous and witty sense of humor, that comes as much from sound as it does the use of centuries of language all piled on top of one another Whether it be
traditional songs such as
"Sir Patrick's Spens," Turlough O'Carolan's
"Loftus Jones," or the pastoral, wicked humor of
"Political Lies," by the songwriter, the sense of centering around the music's thematic idea is paramount. When the sense of adventure is high, as it is on
"Emerson's Baccus," with its Eastern motif and striated vocals, or
Williamson's own
"There Is a Music," with its dissonance, finds certain warm figures and skeletal chordal ideas at the core as the ensemble plays around and through them, ever keeping the idea and its skeletal frame in the ear of the listener. The two
ISB tunes are done here very differently, yet contain all their original strangeness and charm as well as humor.
The Iron Stone is the farthest afield of the
ECM trilogy, but it is also the most focused and collaborative.
Phillips and
Maneri, who are improvisers by their natures and their chosen fields, and
Möller, who began as a "
folk" musician, have all been stretched by their experience with
Williamson, who has added much depth and dimension to his already staggering musical background. Together they have extended both the languages of
folk and improvisational musics, and in doing so have created a work at once immediate and timeless, full of warmth, wonder and vision. It's hard to imagine any but the most cynical or puritanical listeners not being delighted by the wide array of colors, tones and textures -- both linguistic and musical -- on offer here.
The Iron Stone is the real freak
folk brought back to the hearthstone (and perhaps it feels this way in part because it was recorded in an 18th century mill house). It's brilliant and full of soul.
~Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
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