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Robin Holcomb - The Natural World

from 52 Weeks Of Downloads by Wayne Horvitz

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about

Amazingly I only have a few more weeks left of Download of the Week. The last one will be on Tuesday, August 30th.

I was planning to post mostly unreleased material over the remaining weeks, but for this week I decided on a different approach.

I had the pleasure of re-uniting with my old band Zony Mash this last weekend, and the very special pleasure of playing with The Robin Holcomb Band, which these days is essentially the same band plus Robin. This music gets played, and heard, far too rarely. Robin’s last record for Nonesuch, The Big Time, was with this band, plus Bill Frisell, and additional guests. This week, playing live, we played tunes from all three of her Nonesuch albums, some covers, and some new material.

From her album Rockabye, we played the song "The Natural World," which is the download of the week. The guys in the band hadn’t played this one, and I was reminded of not only how moving this song is, but how prescient.

I also had the pleasure recently of visiting with Jearlyn Steele, who hails from Minneapolis, where I was recently, and whom I hadn’t seen in years. She asked about Robin, and then starting singing this song, right there on my friend Marian’s couch. Considering she last sang it 25 years ago I was pretty impressed, and again, very moved. (Jearyln, her sister Jevetta, and their two brothers graced us with their incredible vocal harmonies on “Rockabye")

Robin is, in my humble and extremely biased opinion, simply one of the great lyricists of her generation.

Economy is a hallmark of her writing, which is interesting to me because I admire her lyrics, line by line, in much the same way I admire Bob Dylan’s lyrics, especially from the 60’s and 70’s, a writer who certainly wasn’t know for economy of lyrics. But what they share is the ability for a single phrase to imply a multitude of meanings, and in this song at least, consequences.

Here are the lyrics to The Natural World:


"Separate the wings
and the roots
and the motions of the natural world

Celebrate all high and private places
with what you have made perfect
and still

How much more can the waters hold?
How many more beats in the Hallelujah?

Who can read these directions
for turning around?

Who do you know I can confess too?
Who do you know I can confess too?"


Every line tells a whole story, and like any good Rabbi more than half of them are questions. As we see the world change we really do wonder, indeed, “How much more can the waters hold?”. But this weekend, the line that kept turning over and over in my head is “Who can read these directions, for turning around.”

As we face the magnitude of the ripping apart of our social fabric, certainly in light of recent events- as we think about the enormity of what faces us, and how little personal responsibility most of us take, in the crisis in global climate changes - as we ponder, often desperately, at the disparity between rich an poor, the struggles of identity of all sorts- the shape of all our worlds, social, natural or otherwise- that we leave for our children. The pathetic state of our political discourse. This is the question- indeed. “Who can read these directions for turning around”? I don’t tear up easily, but this song wrecks me every time.

The musicians on the track sound wonderful. Robin’s voice is heartbreaking, the Steele Singers are heavenly, the band sounds great, the backup horns -I don’t even remember who played but I bet you Art Baron and Marty Ehrlich are in there. And then, as always, the majesty of Doug Wieselman’s sax solo - talk about economy of style! And a special nod to an old friend whom I have not seen in years, the great engineer Joe Ferla.

As always, I hope you enjoy the music.

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from 52 Weeks Of Downloads, track released July 13, 2016

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Wayne Horvitz

Wayne Horvitz is a composer, pianist and electronic musician. In addition to his own work, he is known for his work with Butch Morris, Robin Holcomb, John Zorn, Bobby Previte, Skerik, Bill Frisell, Sara Schoenbeck, Ron Miles, Peggy Lee, and William Parker just to name a few. ... more

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