Geoff Muldaur: PRIVATE ASTRONOMY

[ghost of miles]

Has anybody else heard the entire CD? I sampled a cut last night for my community radio station program and ended up playing it on-air: a wonderful small-ensemble version of Beiderbecke's "Flashes." Beautiful! I'm going to try to give the whole CD a listen ASAP, but wanted to alert others--Bix fans & otherwise--to this interesting title.

[DrJ]

I am intrigued by this, looking forward to hearing it. I'm a fan of much of Muldaur's work. He's a really talented singer, guitarist, composer, and interpreter of others' music. SECRET HANDSHAKE (Hightone) was one of the more outstanding albums of recent times, reinterpreting and putting his own spin on country blues.

[RonF]

I've barely had a chance to review this cd but it sounds excellent. Will listen some more. The reviews are very positive. This will date my ass, no doubt, but I go back to the 60s with Geoff Muldaur. Back to the Jim Kweskin and the Jugband days. Then, the era with former wife Maria, then Butterfield etc., etc. No, I don't live in a home, thank you!

J, You're right on about The Secret Handshake. Great blues recording. Got To Find Blind Lemon is already a classic. Have you heard Got To Find Blind Lemon Pt. 2? It's on his follow up cd, Password. An equally great song but the album doesn't hold a candle to Handshake.

[medjuck]

Seems like I hadn't heard of Muldaur since my late friend Zal Yanofsky produced a record of his in the late 60's (maybe it was with Maria). Then a few weeks ago I heard Peter Goralnick (sp?) give a talk about the blues and Muldaur was one of the few contemporary artists he recommended! Right after that I saw the title of this cd in the Jazzmatazz upcoming releases list. Where can I get this? (BTW Anyone here familiar with Ry Cooder's version of "In a Mist" on his cd "Jazz"?)

[Nate Dorward]

Thanks for the heads-up on the new one. I very much liked Password & The Secret Handshake. Hm, while I'd hate to go without either, I'd certainly speak up for Password too: just the gorgeous "Light Rain" would be enough to recommend it. One oddity of it is that it has a rerecording of "Prairie Lullaby"--same arrangement as on Pottery Pie, but I think the later version maybe a little better.

Yes, the Ry Cooder version of "In a Mist" is quite nice.

& let's not forget that Secret Handshake has a great version of a Don Pullen tune on there!

It's Guralnick BTW.

[medjuck]

I like Red Norvo's version of "In a Mist" too. Meanwhile I found the Muldaur cd in the used Folk bin at Ameoba. First time I played it, it sounded like a novelty record to me. But after several plays, it's grown on me. I'm not sure it's jazz but who cares. I saw Martha Wainwright open for The McGarrigle Sisters (she's Kate's daughter) a while back and though I thought she was OK, I was surprised by how good she is here.

BTW Did anyone here ever see the documentary on Bix where Bill Challis sits at a piano and plays an unrecorded piece by Bix? Was that one of the pieces on this cd?

[DrJ]

RonF - I'll probably still eventually check out PASSPORT, just for the stronger tunes, don't have it yet. I have yet to delve into Muldaur's history but would be interested to know where to start with his Jug Band etc recordings.