Parks Van Dyke's final performance

Joe Henry was a guest on Parks Van Dyke's last piano/vocal performance in L.A.'s Largo at the coronet.The show took place on Friday and saturday, May 8 and 9, 2015.

Joe has worked on many occasions together with Parks Van Dyke. Not only on Joe's own albums,  but also on albums he produced.  (I should take the time to list their entire coöperations.)

I don't know what Joe's contribution was to the show, so feel free to fill me in on the details.

Edit : (Thank you JH for this info) 
i sang the song "death don't have no mercy" (from country blues master erv. gary davis), and van dyke's request. he was in the studio ensemble when i produced ramblin' jack elliot's version of that heroic song, and van dyke has loved it ever since. we performed this song both nights --and second of which also had guitarist joe walsh (of the eagles) sitting in on it.

i also sang backing vocals with gaby moreno and inara george on VDP's take on allen toussaint's seminal "river boat."


In an interview with the LA Times,  Parks Van Dyke explains he had an unsuccesful handsurgery, wich makes it impossible to play piano for too long.

I had unsuccessful hand surgery last year, and all it takes is about 40 minutes — just when it matters — for a hand to freeze. Rather than go out decrepit, I'm taking Randy Newman's advice when he sang, "I have nothing to say, but I'm going to say it anyway." Knowing when to quit is the moral to that song, and I do think that is important.

Read the entire interview.

He encouraged pics at the end. Van Dyke Parks, Gaby Moreno, Inara George, Ed Droste, Joe Henry. And R Newman. Sheesh. pic.twitter.com/PPbay758oK

— Russian Nesting Face (@amalialevari) May 9, 2015

Review

american songwriter
....Joe Henry, who is now not only a legendary songwriter-singer but also a producer of great achievement, came on to sing “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” by the Rev. Gary Davis. He sang it beautifully, with deep respect for the man at the keys, and a delivery of quiet, simmering soul.  In the heart of the song, Van Dyke played a piano solo. But rather than a single note solo, as expected, he performed a chordal solo, all big extended  chords ascending and overlapping, echoing and pulsating with shades of Ellington and Evans, a cubist painting fleetly created in the middle of the “American Gothic.” It was awesome, even mystical, in its fluid gravity....


.....May Van Dyke hold back time forever. Thank you maestro for a magic night.

Joe Henry to perform at 'Celebrate Brooklyn!'

On July 18, Joe Henry will open for Rhiannon Giddens at Prospect Park Bandshell.  Brooklyn, NY.
 This concert is a free event. Find more info over here.

Joe and Rhiannon know each other for several years now, and have worked together on numerous occasions.  my guess is more wonderful colaborations will follow.

Rhiannon Giddens just released a fantastic album, 'Tomorrow is my turn'.

Edit June 17,2015
Joe Henry will be joined by the following band :
Jay Bellerose : Drums
David Mansfield : strings
Levon Henry : Multiple instruments
Ross Gallagher : Upright Bass
Marc Ribot : Electric Guitar



Go and enjoy.

May I dream, (off course I may), of them touring Europe as a double act ?

Greetings,
Stefan.

JH to present at 'The Muse and The Marketplace 2015'

Joe Henry will lead a discussion during this year's Muse and The Marketplace' conference.

The Muse and the Marketplace is a three-day literary conference designed to give aspiring writers a better understanding about the craft of writing fiction and non-fiction, to prepare them for the changing world of publishing and promotion, and to create opportunities for meaningful networking.(source)

The Event takes place 1st-3rd May at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.

'The Musicality of Words'  is a discusion lead by Joe Henry, how the tonality of the word is the mother of thought: its mysterious and instinctive guide.

It is scheduled on May 2nd from 10:30am -11:45 am.

This lecture has a limited capacity of 50 seats, so make sure to sign up. 

The Fretboard Summit

Fretboard Journal celebrates 10 years of publishing.

And with a celebration, off course, will also come a party, called 'The Fretboard Summit'.

Joe Henry is one of the performers. 

Our list of performers is growing every week. So far, we have Bill Frisell, Chris Eldridge & Julian Lage, Matt Munsteri, Joe Henry, Blake Mills and other FJ favorites attending. Speakers include Bill Collings, Richard Hoover, Dick Boak (Martin), Mark Stutman of Folkway Music, Richard Johnston (Gryphon), Jim Baggett (Mass Street Music) and many fretted instrument builders, authorities and historians.

This event will take place from 6-8 November 2015 at the Costanoa Resort in the Bay Area In California.

It will be limited to a few 100 guests, and tickets go on sale April 14, 2015.
 

Review

downbeat magazine

Playing acoustic guitar and presenting mostly his own compositions, Joe Henry found an ideal partner in Bill Frisell, whose electric guitar work added harmonies and subtle sonic colors. The notable reportorial exception was a version of “One For My Baby (“And One More For The Road)” that was more reminiscent of Tom Waits than Frank Sinatra.

Watch an 'all star' performance of 'Sitting on top of the world'.








A wonderful version of 'Eyes out for you', together with Bill Frisell.



Listen to a podcast where Joe talks with David Crosby about the 'art of recordmaking'.

Release date 'the travelling kind' is set.

Recorded last year, and produced by Joe Henry, The new album by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell is almost there.

'The traveling kind' will be released May 12th on Nonesuch Records where you can also pre-order it.

read some more on it on rollingstone.com

press release : (Nonesuch Records)

 ...Produced by Grammy Award winner Joe Henry (Billy Bragg, Elvis Costello, Aimee Mann), The Traveling Kind comprises 11 duet tracks, including six new songs written by Harris and Crowell with co-writing by Mary Carr, Cory Chisel, Will Jennings, and Larry Klein. Also featured are new renditions of previous Crowell cuts including "No Memories Hanging Around" as well as new interpretations of Lucinda Williams' "I Just Wanted to See You So Bad" and Amy Allison's "Her Hair Was Red."...

....Crowell adds, "Emmy and I wrote six of the eleven songs on The Traveling Kind, which was recorded in a six-day span with our Glory Band, Steuart Smith, and Billy Payne. Joe Henry was at the helm as producer and Justin Neibank did the recording. The experience was pretty much akin to falling off a log."....

tracklist

1	The Traveling Kind (Rodney Crowell/Emmylou Harris/Cory Chisel)
2	No Memories Hanging Round (Rodney Crowell)
3	Bring It on Home to Memphis (Rodney Crowell/Larry Klein)
4	You Can’t Say We Didn’t Try (Rodney Crowell/Emmylou Harris/Cory Chisel)
5	The Weight of the World (Rodney Crowell/Emmylou Harris)
6	Higher Mountains (Rodney Crowell/Emmylou Harris/Will Jennings)
7	I Just Wanted to See You So Bad (Lucinda Williams)
8	Just Pleasing You (Rodney Crowell/Mary Carr)
9	If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home Now (Rodney Crowell/Emmylou Harris)
10	Her Hair Was Red (Amy Allison)
11	La Danse de la Joie (Rodney Crowell/Emmylou Harris/Will Jennings)

Listen to the title track.

Words on the New Milk Carton Kids Album

'Poetry' : that's the word I would use.

Joe Henry wrote poetry for the new Milk Carton Kids album. The album is called 'Monterey', and is available as pre-order.


"I’ve grown sick of the light, now that the once-distant sky has laid down beside me and spread the sun like a flaring map across both our knees, coquettish and cloying, groping my trunk and fleecing me of change; obscuring the authority of the seasons with eternal summer, when, time ago, days would darken to mark my way and progress, making cool the thoughts that now turn only in fevered, dull half circles; that tip away from invention and lean into surrender –the way the poor and kinder dime-a-dance girls once leaned just so into me, when I was over there. 

......"

Read it in its entirety over here.

The Weekly Feed interview.

Another interview with Joe is online.

Joe was interviewed for The weekly feed.He spoke about Invisible Hour, religion, running his own label, history, writing, but also about how he feels about people leaking an artist's unfinished material,,.....

What I take from this interview mostly, is that maybe one day, more of Joe's writing will become a book. 

The Weekly feed : "Maybe we will see those down the road ?"
Joe Henry : "Maybe."