Description
Artist: Steve Dawson | Label: Kernel SoundLFO |Format: LP |Genre: Rock | LP Condition: Mint | LP Jacket condition: SEALED
Steve Dawson’s Funeral Bonsai Wedding w/ strings
Last Flight Out
Limited Edition LP w/ deluxe inner sleeve including lyricsand bonus download card.
One of the most underrated songwriters in American music, Steve Dawsons
newest venture is Funeral Bonsai Wedding, a jazz-folk collaboration that recalls the
best of Tim Buckley or Astral Weeks-era Van Morrison. Those may seem like
lofty notices, but Dawson has a way with melody and image
that live up to them Riverfront Times
The idea of FUNERAL BONSAI WEDDING came to Steve Dawson while riding abus in his hometown of Chicago. Every day he passed a florist with three windows, each with a sign. Funeral, read one. Bonsai, another. Wedding, read the last.
However random, Dawson realized the words sounded natural when put together,
much like the group that would share its title. Indeed, when FUNERAL BONSAI WEDDINGreleased its self-titled debut album in 2014, the collaboration appeared like itshouldnt work. As the songwriter-singer behind Dolly Varden, an acclaimed
Americana band from Chicago, Dawsons roots are country and soul. He is joined by
three Chicago jazz musicians vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, drummer Charles
Rumback and bassist Jason Roebke known for their inventiveness on Chicagos
legendary free jazz scene, having participated in projects with people like Ken Vandermark, Ryley Walker, Thurston Moore, Nicole Mitchell, Jeff Parker, and Nels Cline, among many others.Put together, the music of FUNERAL BONSAI WEDDING is unlike all of the above.On Last Flight Out, every sound is inverted: Adasiewiczs vibes serve as the lead instrument, Dawsons voice often leads to chants, and Rumback and Roebke shift time to move the music to side pockets as they move it forward. The closest comparison to the ephemeral blissed-out melodies is Van Morrisons epic Astral Weeks, which aims for transcendence amid ordinariness. To reach those otherworldly heights, Dawson had to invert the process he was conditioned to
within the context of a rock band.The musicians first played together in 2005 at
Chicagos Elastic Arts, a hothouse for experimental jazz. It felt like I was floating,Dawson remembers. That performance led to the group defining its sound in the studio and conducting a handful of shows including its debut at Constellation, a free jazz performance space and a summer performance at the Pritzker Pavilion in
Chicagos Millennium Park. After pausing for a few years, Dawson invited Funeral Bonsai Wedding to join him for a 2017 residency at the Hideout. By then original
drummer Frank Rosaly had relocated to Amsterdam and was replaced by Charles Rumback. They were joined by Quartet Parapluie, an all-female classical string
ensemble whose members have also moonlighted for groups like Belle and Sebastian, Iron & Wine, and Kanye West.Afterward, everyone on stage knew what they needed to do next: Make a record and expand the scope of what FUNERAL BONSAI WEDDING could become.This time out, Jason Roebke played a bigger role in writing the string arrangements to accompany Dawsons songs, enhancing them in ways that made even the most downcast lyrics glow with beauty. Jason added to the meaning of the songs. Its pretty incredible. I had been playing with him for many years, but it shows me hes payingn attention to the full songs not just his part, but the whole picture, Dawson says. Its really wonderful.By shedding traditional song structures, and inspired by the open space created by his new collaborators, Dawson found himself gravitating towards more impressionistic lyrics, which happened to fit the surrealistic world that emerged since the last record. Those details creep into Last Flight Out through lyrics and moods that hover on the edge of both hope and despondency A state that reflects the everyday news cycle. The songs go unexpected places, Dawson says. I let my imagination go where it will. I didnt try to confirm it to a traditional narrative.”The first thought had to be best thought since LAST FLIGHT OUT was recorded in a single day at Kingsize Sound Labs in Chicago with John Abbey at the controls. The band was fresh from a headlining performance at Constellation and wanted to capture that energy in just a few hours.For Dawson, the magic of FUNERAL BONSAI WEDDING comes from that blind trust. If Dawson hadnt seen that florist window, if he hadnt agreed on a lark to improvise on a stage hed never played, if he hadnt decided to put his songs in the hands of musicians he barely knew at the time He would have been stuck.
FUNERAL BONSAI WEDDING is the sound of starting over and not knowing whats next until it happens.Artwork is by Dawson’s musical partner, wife, and acclaimed artist, Diane Christianson.
Songs are;
Last Flight Out
Mastadons
However Long it Takes
Parapluie de Roebke
The Monkey Mind is on the Prowl
While We Were Staring Into Our Palms
It’s Not What You Think
NEW SEALED Limited Edition LP with
deluxe inner sleeve with lyrics & download
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