Concert Review—

The Other Bruce (Hornsby) Is Back To

His Old Tricks With New Album And Tour

By John Voket

Hooray for you, Bruce!

Hooray for delivering a new album and a new label that gives you the opportunity to return to familiar formulas, while allowing you to still present fresh and stimulating perspectives of current and uniquely American music.

Hooray for your return to touring small venues where your most dedicated fans can mix with new devotees in the kind of intimate environments where they can fully experience your brilliant talents and folksy, familiar personality.

In the few minutes I had to chat with Mr Hornsby following his recent performance at The Ridgefield Playhouse, we went back and forth about the drastic differences between his newest offering, Halycon Days (on Columbia), compared to his last project, Big Swing Face, which left even some of his most devoted followers scratching their heads in bewilderment.

I kidded with the imposing 6½-foot tall piano man that I was one of the 18 fans who actually went out and bought his last release.

“I went out and bought it, too… so that made it 19,” Hornsby shot back. He went on to lament that neither his former label, nor the radio stations that were expecting more of the same old sound, knew what to do with it.

While Big Swing Face almost seemed like a foray into experimental electronica, Halycon Days brings listeners back to a more accessible Bruce Hornsby. And while a few numbers on this neat new product harkens up flavors of singles past, the album overall is a celebration of what the master pianist, singer and songwriter does best.

Numbers including the first single, “Gonna Be Some Changes made,” as well as the cuts, “Candy Mountain,” and “Mirror on the Wall,” venture close to what may be considered Hornsby formula. Even those with a passing interest in his popular singles from the past 20 years might find themselves saying these songs sound a lot like Hornsby classics, “The Way it Is,” “Talk of the Town,” and “Valley Road.”

Those fans who appreciate the many songs Hornsby has lent to other artists in and outside his genre may hear the voices of Bonnie Raitt doing equal justice to his new ballad, “Dreamland,” or Don Henley pensively crooning the title track. Perhaps Mr Hornsby specifically set out to construct material specifically for these two collaborators, even though neither one puts in an appearance as backup on the new album.

This is not to say that Hornsby is without worthy guest support on Halycon Days. Sting sings a duet with him on, “Gonna Be Some Changes Made” as well as on the title track. Elton John does the honors on “Dreamland,” and Eric Clapton plays on three tracks and contributes vocals on “Candy Mountain Run.”

Additional guests include R.S. Hornsby and the Hornsby band, J.V. Collier, Sonny Emory, Bobby Read, Doug Derryberry, and John “JT” Thomas, who also accompanied him during the recent Ridgefield performance.

While I’ve had the opportunity to see Hornsby in various configurations including several stints with the Grateful Dead, supporting friends like Ms Raitt, Jackson Browne, Shawn Colvin, a riveting Ives Concert Park show with Bela Fleck, and on his own as a solo performer, the Ridgefield show may count among his best and most affable local performances.

My seats afforded me the proximity where I could watch his spider fingers alternately dance across the ivories, and form the almost mathematical patterns that lace together his diverse arrangements. The show kicked off with an obscure passage tributing local composer/arranger Charles Ives, before moving into my favorite new selection, “Hooray for Tom.”

While the set was heavily dependent on material from Halycon Days (he played nearly two-thirds of the album’s selections), the fans and “Ridgefieldians” that Hornsby chided throughout the evening were also treated to a sampling of his popular classics and a few rare gems. His set included favorites “The Way It Is,” “End of the Innocence,” “Talk of the Town” and “Fields of Gray.”

Deadheads in attendance were not disappointed as the second set of the evening delivered “Sugaree,” as well as two of Hornsby’s most popular side projects, “Big Stick,” the Cajun flavored ditty from Kevin Costner’s film Tin Cup, and the evocative tribute to fallen heroes, “The Show Goes On” from Ron Howard’s Backdraft.

If you’re interested in catching up with everything Hornsby has been up to recently, check out his website, BruceHornsby.com. You might just have time to pick up an autographed copy of Halycon Days, or his stimulating 2000 live release, Here Come the Noisemakers.

I guarantee that if you throw his new album on the disc player during your upcoming autumnal gathering, your guests will all be asking about it. And if you are motivated enough to check him out in concert, he’s playing New York City’s Town Hall on October 29 and Boston’s Orpheum Theatre on November 5 before turning his attention to stops out west.