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![]() Bruce Cockburn (from the album Crowing Ignites available on True North Records) (by Bryant Liggett) Bruce Cockburn turned off the vocal microphones for his thirty-fourth album, Crowing Ignites. Similar to his 2005 release Speechless, Crowing Ignites leaves the lyrics behind, omitting any opportunity to get hung up on the words, where the instrumentation has to take a backseat to nothing. History makes it is obvious the man can put words together to pen a great number if not a hundred great songs, one after the other, but let his voice take five and allow Bruce Cockburn to showcase his guitar chops in Crowing Ignites. “Bardo Rush” into “Easter,” and then “April in Memphis,” Bruce Cockburn lays down experimental and atmospheric groundwork for the coming cuts on Crowing Ignites, “April in Memphis” showcasing his finger-picking ability while flirting with classical and adding ringing chimes. “Blind Willie” hits on a Blues groove, “Seven Daggers” is a haunting, hammer dulcimer inspired cut complete with church bells while “The Mt. Lefroy Waltz” is an exercise in experimental Jazz, his guitar work subtle and quiet in a Bill Frisell way, playing ever so quietly under a trumpet. “Sweetness and Light” is a slow and optimistic swinger and “The Groan” a raw Blues cut with driving, percussive hand claps where the mandolin trades leads with guitar. “Pibroch the Wind in the Valley” hides a Celtic melody and album closer, “Bells of Gethsemane”, wraps the album up on a bell heavy, acoustic-industrial note. The guitar playing on the album is exceptional. A majority of Crowing Ignites finds Bruce Cockburn’s Blues finger-picking delivered with a dose of the avant-garde. A classical record without a symphony, Bruce Cockburn showcases an orchestral ability center stage on Crowing Ignites. (by Bryant Liggett) Listen and buy the music of Bruce Cockburn from AMAZON http://brucecockburn.com/
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