reviews |
 Jordi Baizan (from the album Free and Fine on Berkalin Records)
The glimpse that Jordi Baizan snaps of Valerie and Brian as they head west and off the highway in “Desert Line” may be the last for the couple, the story admitting that ‘they may be hard to find ‘cause nothing’s bigger than Texas”. A caravan of Airstreams form a conga line to join the pair seeking freedom as they leave Houston, Texas behind, a homebase shared with Jordi Baizan. The tale can be found on Free and Fine, a collection of songs gathered by Jordi Baizan, the theme circling in the aftermath and devastation of Hurricane Harvey. Daylight finds a local community has become a lake, the neighbors binding together to keep heads above water in “Heroes All Around Us” while “Pictures on the Wall” watches a displaced family question the permanence of a new home as a wistful piano patter scatters like the morning sunlight coming into “Time to Leave the Neighborhood”. While not all the tracks on Free and Fine reflect the struggles of the Texas floods, the overall tone addresses huge changes, unasked for, unexpected, and unwanted. The music quiets as Jordi Baizan sings/speaks the sad stories tapped out in “Footsteps on the Ceiling” as Free and Fine sketches carefree times in “Between the Sun and the Moon” while train wheels widen a what-if in “Could Have Been Us”. Jordi Baizan shares that ‘these songs were written over a prolific 18-month period that was both challenging and emotional. My family’s home took in 24 inches of water on August 27th 2018. We left in the middle of the night before the water came in and never lived in that house again, leaving behind the place where we raised our kids. As I made this record, I wanted the stories to resonate with the listener so that they could sense the deep emotions that underlie the songs. Not all the songs are personal, but this record is about the human struggle to respond well to the inevitable change and adversity that life throws us all. The title of the record is aspirational, Free and Fine. I would like to be and feel Free and Fine when Life throws Loss, Adversity, Change, Evil, and Fear at me. Fine as in grateful’. The album kicks its feet in a sunny surf ukulele strum as Free and Fine orders up in “Let’s Have Seconds” while Jordi Baizan follows a troubadour plying her trade with “Tears and Mascara”. Listen and buy the music of Jordi Baizan from AMAZON https://jordibaizan.com/
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