First Rising Appalachia track

June 2018, Joe was at Stinston Beach, SF producing Rising Appalachia.

at the Website cdbaby, you can purchase the first single entitled 'Harmonize'
The upcoming Album will be entitled 'Leylines'.







Update : The album will be released on May 3rd.


Greetings,
Stefan

A salute to John Prine

Photo : Patrick T. Fallon

At the pre-Grammy gathering at the Troubadour in L.A., several artists paid salute to John Prine. (And there were a lot of them)

Joe Henry was one them, he performed 'Hello in there'.

From the L.A. times

The always articulate Henry quoted another Americana world musician-producer in his song introduction, “T Bone Burnett has said the hallmark of a great artist is generosity. John Prine is a great artist, and I love him,”

From Billboard.com

"Picture this," echoed Joe Henry, "John Prine has been a mountain before me. He’s a masterful songwriter who inspired my first young attempt to try it out. He’s a great artist and I love him."

To end the evening, every artist participated in performing "Paradise"

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

Een bericht gedeeld door Molly Jenson (@mollyjay) op 10 Feb 2019 om 1:28 (PST)

 

Joe Henry as producer, that would be perfect...

Mercury Rev has released Bobbie Gentry's 'The Delta Sweete' Revisited . 

It is their own version of Bobbie Gentry's 'The Delta Sweete' featuring contributions from Norah Jones, Hope Sandoval, Lucinda Williams, Margo Price, Beth Orton, Susanne Sundfor, Laetitia Sadier, Carice van Houten, Rachel Goswell, Vashti Bunyan, Kaela Sinclair, Marissa Nadler and Phoebe Bridger.

Spanish magazine rock the best music has written a review on Mercury Rev's album. Laurent Berger, the writer of the review, ends the article by hoping that this album encourages Bobbie Gentry to record some new music, with Joe Henry in the producers' seat.

freely translated :

The album ('The Delta Sweete Revisited') is a fascinating work, which we hope will achieve the success it deserves. 12 voices, 12 gems alien to time. Who knows what Bobby will think of this album? Maybe she is encouraged to record something new! With Joe Henry as a producer would be perfect!

P.S. : I haven't heard the interview, but according to Wikipedia Joe cited "Ode" as "an incredibly deft bit of writing in the way that that story is unfolded. … [It] places the character in a moment, and then the story just starts to unfold around it", and it was a song that influenced him early in his life listening to music on the radio.

The Wexford Carols continue...not, but what happened after the Wexford Carols...

Update February 11th : Caitriona O'Leary informed me, there is a misprint in the article mentioned. Anakronos is not going to record 'the Wexford Carols'. They will record ' The Red Book of Ossory.'


In 2014,  Joe produced The Wexford Carols by Irish singer Caitriona O'Leary. The album featured guest performances by Rhiannon Giddens,  Rosanne Cash and Tom Jones.

The wexford Carols are traditional Irish Christmas Carols, and date back to the 16-17th Century.

Anakronos (Photo: Tara Slye)

Today, Caitriona has formed a new ensemble Anakronos, and they will debut on February 20th at National Concert Hall, Dublin. After that, they are planning to continue their journey with the Carols.  In an interview with the Irish Independent we can read :

'Just after the National Concert Hall, Anakronos is going to make an album of 'The Wexford Carols', and then a few months later we're going to do The Wexford Carols Volume II.'

In this same interview she tells us how Joe proposed the additional voices, and she gives us an insight on how Tom Jones perfomed his role recording the 2014 album.

Catriona asked well-known LA producer Joe Henry to produce the record, who recommended some internationally renowned artists such as Tom Jones, Rosanne Cash, and Rhiannon Giddens.
Joe contacted Tom, whom he had worked with before, and the idea immediately piqued Tom's interest, so that, in Catriona's words, it was a 'really good fit.'

Tom, Catriona says was 'lovely', and 'very diligent.' He'd come to recording sessions early and sit in the control booth for a full day listening to the songs he wasn't singing on, just to get a 'feel' for the music. He was, she says, 'very nice' and 'humble', adding that she has great respect for him and his music.

With Anakronos, Caitriona is blending medieval music with jazz, global rhythms and the contemporary to form her own inimitable style. 

Source : independent.ie





 

Tape Op interview : The Process is not fragile

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't given place to the latest interview with Joe in Tape Op Magazine. And that is indeed a bit of a shame, since it is a great interview, and a must if you appreciate Joe's Work.

Like Bren Davies, the interviewer starts :

"It is rare that I start an interview talking about music production and finish the same interview feeling like I have been mentored by a wise man from another era."

 
Take your time (it is well spent) and  get insight on how Joe engages himself in producing records, and how it evolved in his life.

That's something I learned from T Bone 20 years ago. He said, "Joe, we don't tell people what to play. You invite people into the room and encourage them. Make them feel protected and safe. They'll give you everything they have. You can't stop them from doing it."

Read wonderful words from him about his collaborators  and inspirations :

On T Bone Burnett and Allen Toussaint

I gravitated towards them without even knowing that was something I needed.

On S. Husky Höskulds

He's not just documenting each moment; he's contributing to its creation. 

On Ryan Freeland

 It's critical to understand that Ryan is a musician first. As a recording engineer, his approach to that job, as well as problem-solving, is inherently musical. It's not technical, even though he is a technical master.

Enjoy his story on some of his highlights :
- Don't Give up on Me (Solomon Burke)
-Look Again to the Wind: Johnny Cash's Bitter Tears Revisited (Various)
Recording 'Shine a light' with Billy Bragg

And so much more....

Indeed a must read (at Tape Op) !

Songs and Photographs

Sometimes things drop in at the perfect moment…

I had an extremely busy last 3 months. When I came home from the last working day before the Christmas holidays, I found in the mail Anthony Wilson’s new record ‘Songs and Photographs’. It was an album I was looking forward to, ever since it was announced. These are maybe the two art-forms I love most. Both by an artist for whom I have a huge appreciation.

Anthony Wilson is a guitar player deeply invested in L.A.’s Jazz scene. Although he is better known as Diana Krall’s guitarist during her last tours and albums, he also performed with Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Aaron Neville, Joe Henry, … But he deserves even more credit for his own work as a front man.

I really got in to Anthony’s work with his previous album ‘Frogtown’. An album that doesn’t get the amount of spins it deserves I must admit. We are taking care of that in the following months for sure!
Soon I discovered he is also an active photographer. Shooting the things he comes across during his daily life, capturing the beauty of simple things. Life as it is, non-staged, a way of looking at things in ways we didn’t see at first.

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

Een bericht gedeeld door Anthony Wilson (@wilsonthecurator) op 18 Dec 2018 om 8:10 (PST)

He has combined his 2 talents in to a wonderful record ‘Songs and Photographs’. 
When I received  it, our family life didn’t offer me a chance to hear it immediately. So, the following morning we dropped the kids of at school, and I ended up home alone, and time alone.

I don’t need more to relax than the combination of music and image. It’s the most complete gift…. OK, I’m exaggerating it’s not perfect. There is 1 thing missing and that’s the coffee. But I realize that logistically it would be very difficult to spread this record with a cup of coffee.

No worries, preparing coffee, is something I can handle.

So, there I was, spending some time away from it all, only jazz, images and coffee. The record even has a subtle physical experience. The artwork is not made from shiny smooth carton, but it has a fine raw structure. It’s something to feel for yourself. The subtle differences in color of the sleeve and box, the imprinted lines in the one, but not the other make the entire set a work of art on its own. It all makes sense for what this album has become.  Kudos to Nina Holland and Little Steidl for this. It is definitely a reminder that I need to find a way to give records like that also their deserved display in our home.

Musically it is, besides the greatness of the music, an honor to witness the collaboration of these fine musicians. It’s like their minds where connected during recording. This is what you get when you put Anthony Wilson, Gerald Clayton, Joshua Crumbly, Patrick Warren and Jay Bellerose in the same room. And this with producers Joe Harley and Anthony himself steering the ship.


.
This complete work of art has won over my heart, and it will be present over here. (Beverages to be chosen in accordance of the atmosphere going along.)

go get it at :https://anthonywilson.bandcamp.com/

Greetings,
Stefan.

2019 Grammy nominations

2 Albums, produced by Joe, are to be found among the Grammmy 2019 Nominees.

• Joan Baez is nominated with her album 'Whislte down the Wind' for Best Folk Album.

•  'All The Things That I Did And All The Things That I Didn't Do', from the Milk Carton kids is nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

• Engineers : Ryan Freeland & Kenneth Pattengale

• Mastering engineer :  Kim Rosen

The Grammy winners will be announced on February 10, 2019.

Already congratulations for everyone involved in making these records !

Greetings,
Stefan.