You and I both have been gagging for a visit from Vince Gill at least since we saw his wife Amy Grant kill it at Irving Plaza (here), with George Jones dead, Gill is our greatest country singer and he sure didn’t need George Jones retirement to be that.His voice is a deep twang, but not too deep, and that gives it a lot of emotion in its twang.Listen to his duet with Strait on “All My Exes Live In texas” -they both sound good, but on what is a novelty track, he gives it gravitas. Try “Go Rest High On That Mountain as well”.
And if we what we were getting was just the man and his band, greatest hits please, well, count me in. But we’re getting a part of the Rosanne Cash’s Perspective series at Carnegie Hall and it is his country swing out The Time Jumpers, who re fine, but they aren’t what I want plus, inanely I might add, it is a late night show. Who wants a late night at Carnegie Hall? Will I go? Even after the Alan Jackson snoozer (here)? Probably. This is off Vince’s website:
“The Time Jumpers will be featured at Carnegie Hall on October 24, 2015 as part of singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash’s four-event Perspectives series, offering concerts that represent the rich and disparate elements of American roots music, from traditional bluegrass and country to soul music, and from Western swing to hardscrabble, virtuosic folk music.
Featuring some of the greatest artists working in these fields, the concerts are a celebration of the thread of Southern roots music, showcasing a soulful and quintessentially American cultural form. She hosts three concerts in Zankel Hall-by the 11-piece band The Time Jumpers; by multi-instrumentalists Ry Cooder and Ricky Skaggs exploring traditional blues, gospel, and bluegrass with vocalist Sharon White; and by Alabama-based soul septet St. Paul and The Broken Bones. She concludes her Perspectives with her own concert in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, featuring songs from her critically acclaimed album The River & The Thread, plus other works with special guests.
For more information on the concert series, please visit www.carnegiehall.org/cash/”
This is about the Time Jumpers:
Tap any member of The Time Jumpers on the shoulder and the face that turns to greet you will be that of one who’s made major contributions to the richness and vigor of country music.
The Time Jumpers was established in Nashville in 1998 by an assemblage of high-dollar studio musicians who wanted to spend some spare time drinking beer and jamming with their sonically gifted buddies. The notion of building a rabidly devoted following was the last thing on their minds. But that’s what happened. Learning that Monday evenings were the slowest in the week for the Station Inn bluegrass club, the superpickers settled into that fabled venue at the start of each week and set up shop. Pretty soon Monday nights were sounding a lot like Saturday nights—and drawing commensurately lively crowds.
As word spread along Music Row that something special was happening at Station Inn, big stars began dropping by, some to sit in with the band, others just to enjoy the vast array of country, swing, jazz and pop standards The Time Jumpers rejoiced in playing. Among those drop-bys were Bonnie Raitt, Reba McEntire, Norah Jones, Robert Plant, The White Stripes, Kings Of Leon, Jimmy Buffet and Kelly Clarkson. None asked for their money back.
The current edition of The Time Jumpers includes 11 members, each a master of his (and, in one case, her) instrument. Alphabetically—which is the only diplomatic way to present such a phalanx of evenly matched talent—they are Brad Albin (upright bass), Larry Franklin (fiddle), Paul Franklin (steel guitar), Vince Gill (vocals, electric and acoustic guitars), “Ranger Doug” Green (vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar), Andy Reiss (electric guitar), Dawn Sears (vocals), Kenny Sears (vocals, fiddle), Joe Spivey (fiddle, vocals) Jeff Taylor (accordion, piano) and Billy Thomas (drums, vocals). (Individual bios available at www.thetimejumpers.com.)
To list the artists these pickers have recorded and toured with would be tantamount to posting all theBillboard country charts for the past 30 years. Suffice it to say that the list ranges from Ray Price to John Anderson to Carrie Underwood. And the stages these luminaries have graced extend from the Grand Ole Opry to Carnegie Hall. That there are three fiddles in the band is a tipoff that these guys have an overwhelming affection for western swing.
