Wyatt, Atzmon and Stephen - For the Ghosts Within

  by Jon Rogers

published: 12 / 10 / 2010

---

On the face of it ‘For the Ghosts Within’ is a peculiar bird. Robert Wyatt, a former member of prog rockers Soft Machine and possessor of one of the most unique and distinctive voices in popular music, has teamed up with saxophonist Gilad Atzmon and violinist Ros Stephen for an unusual collaboration. And then on top of that add in a string quartet and take on some jazz standards like Thelonius Monk’s ‘’Round Midnight’ and Duke Elington’s ‘In a Sentimental Mood’. It might all sound all wrong on paper and any listener might be forgiven for approaching it with trepidation but once playing ‘For the Ghosts Within’ just sounds so right. In fact very little of this album is conventional. Wyatt, initially unable to make some of the early recording dates sang some of his parts down the telephone into an answer phone which was then recorded onto CD and then that was taken into the studio so the musicians could get the feel and the tempo right. It’s a quirky, idiosyncratic album but one with a lot of charm and charisma and along with the jazz standards there are some new compositions like ‘Lullaby for Irena’ and the title track as well as reworked version of ‘Maryan’ from Wyatt’s solo album ‘Shleep’. The only duff note comes with ‘Where Are They Now?’ which starts off all music hall and then leaps into some rap section full of samples, blending in the original refrain. It’s rather out of place and just a bit of a mess. But you can’t really fault the last two songs of Chic’s ‘At Last I Am Free’ and a tear-inducing take on Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’. Both are utterly superb, all seductive and charming that you can’t help falling for. ‘For the Ghosts Within’ perhaps won’t make any ‘top 10’ lists of the greatest albums of the year but it’s still a wonderful little album that really deserves to get a wide and responsive audience. It’s another little gem from the great Robert Wyatt.

Track Listing:-

1 Laura
2 Lullaby For Irena
3 The Ghosts Within
4 Where Are They Now?
5 Maryan
6 Round Midnight
7 Lush Life
8 What's New?
9 In A Sentimental Mood
10 At Last I Am Free
11 What A Wonderful World

Label Links:-

http://www.dominorecordco.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DominoRecordCo
https://twitter.com/DominoRecordCo
https://www.youtube.com/user/DominoRecords
https://plus.google.com/+DominoRecords

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg