Geoff Muldaur has curated a behemoth of a project with packaging that befits the ambition; this is undoubtedly the most annotated and sympathetically presented new music release of 2022. This release not only offers insight into why a banjo-playing folk singer, best remembered for his Kweskin Jug Band in the sixties, or perhaps as the former other half of Maria, is releasing a double album of music that spans the entire range of early twentieth century Americana, before concluding with a three-movement operatic octet; it also goes deep in its liner notes offering both context and information pointing the way to a fuller appreciation of the artists whose music feature. This is an eighty-page hardback book, beautifully illustrated with period photos and scenes from the sessions, extensive text, much of which is written by Muldaur and whose warm personality and fully rounded love of all music burns from the pages. When talking of youthful days in the late fifties, hunting 78s and 10” LPs, tracking down heroes and “living in discovery” with school friend Warwick and musical soulmate Joe Boyd, he writes of “wonderful adventures and musical experiences; memories I will never forget… should I ever fully remember them!”
For this project, Geoff has dipped into the full scope of his CV, not merely as a fine roots music player and singer but also as an arranger, a musical archaeologist and a bandleader; a conduit for all around him to seamlessly congeal as individual players shine. It has been a long-term construction, one that actually seeded as far back as 2005 with an exuberant response from a small pocket of Dutch audience members at a German performance near the Holland border. Geoff would become close friends with his “Dutch Family”, and, when later working on some chamber pieces that would require classical players, he opted to tap into his Dutch connections and recorded in Amsterdam, a decision which proved especially rewarding and led to return visits two or three times a year for the next ten years.
So, we have, to give it the full title, ‘His Last Letter – The Amsterdam Project,’ an epic journey that doubles up as a musical overview of a singular life spent in musical exploration, discovery, learning, appreciation and collaboration. It is a hoot because Geoff has always gone deep into his findings and not backed away from getting his hands dirty in the proceedings. This is why he can sail through Blues of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bix Beiderbecke Trad Jazz, the rolling New Orleans piano flavours of Jelly Roll Morton, Appalachian ballads of Eric von Schmidt and the real-deal Country lullaby of Jimmie Rodgers, magically tracing it all back to the same fountain of Folk and Roots music. There is care and attention in these recordings certainly, but nothing sounds forced or contrived, all have a natural spring and never are there any leaps of style that sound out of place. It is a font too for buried treasure, such as J.B. Lenoir’s ‘The Whale Has Swallowed Me.’ Lenoir was widely respected in the Blues community in the sixties (gone too soon, John Mayall mourned his passing on 1967’s ‘Crusade’ LP), but his recordings were scarce and far from high in audio fidelity. Muldaur has brought a tune that should be regarded as a classic back into the light, playing a new rendition that unleashes every breath of emotion that fired the original.
And in parallel to the music, the experience is fleshed out by what amounts to the musical autobiography of Muldaur’s life. Pages erupt with his experiences; there are priceless anecdotes such as finding Lonnie Johnson in a Philadelphia phonebook and playing a pivotal role in prizing this legend out of semi-retirement. Amusingly, to emphasise just how deep he swam in the roots music of his early years when acknowledging that J.B. Lenoir had somehow escaped his attention in the sixties, he adds an amendment at the bottom of the page which begins, “maybe I missed him because I was too busy listening to…”, before listing over fifty names of other recording artists on his radar. These included classical names such as Brahms and Beethoven, and it is on the second disc, this side of Geoff’s life finds space to blossom.
Disc two is more dominated by the artist’s own compositional work; in fact, the three Octet pieces are so substantial that they almost make everything that has gone before feel like a prelude. Whilst the movements (Overture / His Last Letter / Homage) are a showpiece for bold, original composition, here the composer stands aside vocally and brings mezzo-soprano Claron McFadden to the centre stage. The piece itself ploughs much further back into the Muldaur’s personal history, to his great-grandfather whose last letter gave Geoff inspiration for the compositions. In 1870 a US ship, the USS Oneida, had gone down in Japan’s Yokohama harbour with Geoff’s relative serving as the Lieutenant Commander. Many years later, he had received from a family estate a box of historical records that included letters from Japan, written by his late relative, one of which was a love letter to his wife composed the day before his tragic demise. Here too, the lavish package fleshes the story out by including an 1870 sketch of the boat sinking drawn by a survivor. In curating such a broad and rich musical odyssey around his own life’s journey, then incorporating ancestry too, Geoff Muldaur has produced a work where audio thrills match the depth of the subject matter, all stitched together in very personal fabric, making this a deep joy on every level.
Available here:
Deepdiscount.com | Tower Records | Amazon (UK)