Mainstream America knows Bruce Hornsby from 8 or 9 hit songs from 1986-90, but in truth the story goes far deeper; His career since has been one of constantly expanding his musical boundaries, developing and improving his talents on every musical level, and compiling a singularly impressive list of collaborations, credits, and disparate musical ventures. This reality is forcefully presented on the upcoming 2 CD live concert release, "Here Come The Noisemakers".
It's the truest representation of what we do,'' **Bruce Hornsby** says of his new live album, Here Come the Noise Makers.'' ``All I can say about it is that if somebody asks me, `Hey, I don't know what you sound like. This is the one I would give them.''
Put on Here Come the Noise Makers'' and you'll recognize that Hornsby's pride in the project is completely justified. Spanning a year's worth of concerts from late 1998 to late 1999 -- including the Woodstock festival and episodes of PBS's Austin City Limits'' and BET's ``Jazz Central'' -- the two-CD set draws from the whole of Hornsby's 15-year recording career but delivers its 18 songs with the continuously evolving artistry that the singer, pianist, songwriter, producer, bandleader and A-list guest musician has made his stock in trade.
I just wanted to show all of what we do,'' Hornsby explains. I wanted to try to create a document that shows all the different sides of the band, from the really quiet, stately songs like Mandolin Rain' and Black Muddy River' and Fortunate Son' to the wide-open, jam things like King of the Hill' or `Spider Fingers.'
Here Come the Noisemakers'' -- whose title comes from the comments of a regular at **Bruce Hornsby** Band shows during the late `70s at a Virginia Beach club called The Cave -- indeed succeeds in showcasing the many musical facets of Hornsby and his band. There are the expansive aural dramas of Stander on the Mountain,'' Great Divide,'' Red Plains'' and The Way It Is'' -- preceded, as usual, by a stirring piano improvisation -- and lively, radically recasted renditions of Jacob's Ladder'' and The Valley Road.'' He claims The End of the Innocence'' as his own in a hushed, handsome arrangement, while the walls come down on Spider Fingers'' and King of the Hill'' as Hornsby and his Noise Makers stretch out with spirited abandon.
As Hornsby points out, that's what happens when artists have big hits early in their career, and only the strongest are able to keep from being defined by them and create the kind of rich, varied body of work he has. A Williamsburg, Va., native graduated from the famed University of Miami music school and moved to Los Angeles, where he played in Sheena Easton's touring band but never lost sight of wanting to create his own music.
In 1986, as Huey Lewis & the News were taking his Jacob's Ladder'' to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Hornsby reached the top himself with the title track from his triple-platinum debut album The Way it Is,'' a crisp and cinematic narrative with lengthy, jazz-inflected piano passages that sounded completely unlike anything else on the radio at the time. It helped him win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1986 and was the first of a string of ambitious compositions that scaled the charts and saturated the airwaves, including tracks such as Mandolin Rain,'' Every Little Kiss'' and ``The Valley Road.''
I'm really proud that songs like that could be big hits,'' he says. Hornsby's boundary-stretching pursuit has continued unabated. While his list of guest appearances is enormous -- including co-writing and performing on Don Henley's Grammy winning smash The End of the Innocence,'' a stint with the Grateful Dead and sessions for Bonnie Raitt, Bob Seger and others -- Hornsby's own releases have been consistently eclectic and captivating, Revealing the head of a pop craftsman and the heart of a virtuostic jazz improvisationalist. A Night on the Town''(1990) bristled with live energy. Harbor Lights'' (1993) painted textured musical pastiches, while Hot House'' (1995) had the heart of a juke joint. And the two-CD Spirit Trail'' (1998) was a sweeping tour de force of adventurous musicality and pointed lyrical commentary.
Along the way, Hornsby has continued to push himself and add new facets to his craft. Intensive piano studies during the mid-`90s yielded a two-handed playing style that brought additional dynamics and nuances to his playing, while shifts in his band personnel have taken his performances to even greater heights.
There's a different groove sense now,'' Hornsby says. It just brought out a looser, more soulful side of me -- certainly vocally and probably a bit on the piano, too. The vocal thing, to me, is what I think is the big difference here. I've always been gradually loosening up over the years; you listen to Spirit Trail' and then you listen to The Way It Is' and you go ``Man, it's a different guy singing.' And that, really, has to do with the different feeling I get from the rhythm section in my
band.''
With ``Here Come the Noise Makers'' out to demonstrate the whole of the Hornsby experience, there's plenty here to keep us talking - or, more appropriately listening - for some time.
Source: http://www.brucehornsby.com/
