I am stunned.
At one minute and eight seconds, Brian Wilson’s truly re-imagined version of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue” (An instrumental) is the second best version I have ever heard of it. The best? Gershwin playing the music on piano at Carnegie Hall on the classic and brilliant Early Gershwin.
This is instantaneously the best music I’ve heard this year.
Wilson, for the first 30 seconds, cuts out the counter melody entirely and instead harmonizes with himself through multi tracks. This must be some form of shamanism. It is like you have never heard the clasic and beautiful and completely Manhattan piece of music before.
At the end the voices fade and the music arrives in all its glory -and it is like you have never heard this glorious melody before.
Mike Nessing (who sent me the advance copy) has been trumpeting this Wilson album (not released till August 17th) for awhile but I have been birnt so often in the past decade by Wilson, and I love Gerhswin so much, I have had serious doubts.
If the rest of the album is this good? Actually, the rest of the album can’t be this good.