Sam Amidon's new album, Lily-O, was featured on NPR's All Things Considered last night. "Amidon reinvents American folk songs," says host Robert Siegel; the new album "showcases his ability to transform music." NPR reviewer Banning Eyre says: "Every little unexpected twist shimmers with originality ... His highly personal approach opens a window on the American past and lets us feel it like nothing else around." Listen to the NPR review here. The Morton Report's Bill Bentley says Amidon's vocals "reverberate directly inside the soul." He is "stepping forward with a creative curve that no one else is really doing."
Singer/fiddler/banjoist/guitarist Sam Amidon's new album of reimagined folk songs, Lily-O, was featured on NPR's All Things Considered last night. "Sam Amidon reinvents American folk songs," says host Robert Siegel. The new album, which was recently released on Nonesuch Records, "showcases his ability to transform music."
"Sam Amidon really knows how to juice the drama out of a folksong," says NPR reviewer Banning Eyre in the segment, which you can hear below.
The album was produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson, recorded in Iceland, and features the innovative jazz guitarist and composer Bill Frisell, along with Amidon’s other frequent collaborators, bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Chris Vatalaro.
"Frisell is a perfect foil for Amidon," says Eyre. "Both artists love American folk music, but with a sense of adventure, not reverence."
Eyre says it's clear Amidon and his fellow musicians "were really enjoying themselves" during the recording of these songs. "Every little unexpected twist shimmers with originality." He concludes that Amidon's "highly personal approach opens a window on the American past and lets us feel it like nothing else around."
Listen to the NPR All Things Considered review here:
The Morton Report has its own praise for Amidon and his new album. "Sam Amidon has built a life taking traditional forms and giving them a vital place in the modern world," writes reviewer Bill Bentley. "[W]hat is most mesmerizing about this sonic alchemy is just how deeply the results strike home. It's like Amidon's voice has a clear channel quality to it, one that allows his vocals to reverberate directly inside the soul."
Bentley goes on to say of the Frisell and Amidon's collaboration that "the pairing is perfect from note one" and that, with the new album, Amidon is now "stepping forward with a creative curve that no one else is really doing."
Read the complete review at themortonreport.com.
To pick up a copy of Lily-O, head to iTunes or the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a free MP3 download of the complete album at checkout.
Amidon kicks off a European tour at Whelans in Dublin on November 14 and will be joined by Bill Frisell and Shahzad Ismaily at the Barbican on November 16 for the EFG London Jazz Festival. For details and tickets, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
- Log in to post comments
