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I think Bruce demonstrated different develpomental leaps on both albums. His concentration on two hand independence really stood out on Spirit Trail. Halcyon Days revealed Bruce’s humorous and tender sides to the average Top 40 listener who may have been previously unaware of them.
In a nutshell, Spirit Trail was a musical leap, Halcyon Days a lyrical one.
Jackie
According to the statistics, this is post #300 for me. I’ve been saving this one for A Prediction From A Road Scholar.
I don’t know what title, if any, Si will bestow on me for post #300. I’ve been “Talk of the Town”, “King of the Hill”, and recently “Road Scholar”. Maybe I should be “King Blabber Mouth”. That would probably sum everthing up including Spartanburg. 😳 What do you think?
As we have discussed, Bruce has had many peaks. The most recent being just this week with being #1 Bluegrass Record with Ricky Skaggs. Congratulations Bruce! Bruuuce! But, has Bruce hit “the peak”?
:My Prediction From A Road Scholar is that “the peak” is yet to come! ❗ It’s not the bluegrass thing with Rick Skaggs even though that peak will probably last with this year’s tour. “The peak” will come later when the bluegrass thing wears and Bruce really gets into jazz! ❗
There is so much to say here, but will save for another time. In a nutshell that is my Prediction From A Road Scholar. “The peak” for Bruce will come with jazz! It is his calling and destiny! What do you think?
:Happy #300 to everyone! Thanks for your interest, your thoughts and for putting up with me! Maybe “King Blabber Mouth” would be a good title for me afterall! ❗ 😆
David Day
Lake Lanier, GAThe first three jazzy solo albums are definitely my favorite studio releases so I sincerely hope you are correct. Since I also still really like the other period in his career i will not have a problem if it turns out to be something else.
No. 300
Congrats on your milestone, Mr. David Day!!! I recommend “Czar of Blabbery” for you! 😆
It’s going to be interesting to see if Bruce can bring jazz to a wider audience. You know, John Mayer did his jazz trio thing recently — I’m not sure to how much acclaim. It will be an education for me, since I know so little about jazz. I’ll definitely do some research, thanks to Bruce making this record.
I’m interested to see what Bruce does next, after delving intensely in Bluegrass/Jazz/Broadway. What are his plans after those projects? How will he fuse together what he has learned during this process? Should be interesting. I hope it’s a pop-influenced melding of all those influences — taking him to a new, all-time-high peak!
I’d like to see him produce a fluid, traditional “Bruce”-sounding album of all-new material with a united theme using all these influences he’s mined in the past few years.
Vic
skimming this thread has been quite interesting. first, on a minor note, Hot House Ball doesn’t not sound like a steely dan lyrics…and the lyrics don’t sound like the Dan men either. about these peaks and valleys, commerically, bruce peaked back in the 80s right? 1# record, grammy awards, music videos that people saw, a sophmore effort that hit the charts hard, and etc…the End of the Innocence title track. since then, bruce has worked through his musical career to what some fans would now say are high points, in light of looking back on his career as “educated fans”, like Harbor Lights, Hot House, and Spirit Trail And now, today, 2007 bruce is off on other adventures: jazz, solo tours, blue-grass on a commerical scale. About reaching the peak of his musical live ability, that’s really hard to say. If concerts are how we measure this, well I love 1988 concerts and concerts from 2002-6 especially 2005/2006 shows. To say he peaked in any one of this years might be impossible. OK, fine, for the sake of argument i’ll say that from what i’ve heard, as a “hardcore” bruce fan, bruce hit an energetic and improvisational high in 2005/2006 live on stage. I think bruce can top these shows in the comming years assuming he stays in shape, his voice holds, etc. haha. gotta hope for the best. but i mean, if i say anything, it’s just hard for me to say something is a “peak” especially when bruce is still performing. If this was a band with members who died or which was broken up, maybe i’d be easier, but thank god it’s not!
David,
Congratulations on the 300 posts! Since Victor already wrote such an eloquent (as usual) accolade,I’ll send mine here. My suggestion for your new title: Road Scholar Cum Laude
Seriously though, thanks for giving me and the other forum members new ways to look at some of our favorite albums and songs.
Jackie
Thanks Jackie!
Road Scholar Cum Laude…..hmmm…..I sort of like that! ❗
David Day
Lake Lanier, GARe: No. 300
Victor wrote:Congrats on your milestone, Mr. David Day!!! I recommend “Czar of Blabbery” for you! 😆
Vic
I thought of another one! 💡
I’m always getting Bruce to play Tango King before the break, why not a take off on Tango King?
What do you thing about Blabber King? ❗
: 😆David Day
Lake Lanier, GADavid Day wrote:My Prediction From A Road Scholar is that “the peak” is yet to come! ❗ It’s not the bluegrass thing with Rick Skaggs even though that peak will probably last with this year’s tour. “The peak” will come later when the bluegrass thing wears and Bruce really gets into jazz! ❗
There is so much to say here, but will save for another time. In a nutshell that is my Prediction From A Road Scholar. “The peak” for Bruce will come with jazz! It is his calling and destiny! What do you think?:That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
David Day
Lake Lanier, GAHas Bruce PEAKED?….NO!…HELL NO!!! although he has gotten rather PIQUED at inane requests and bad behavior this past year…but peaked, NO!!! I think that he is still climbing, as he is too musically restless and too artistically demanding of himself to be comfortable.
I don’t know if Mr. Hornsby has peaked. However, I am not sure what one means by ‘peaked’. Are we speaking about a ‘peak’ in terms of: popularity, musical composition, lyrical composition, singing voice, awards, musical arrangements, producing, overall creativity, performing live, or something else? Or does a ‘peak’ imply all of the above?
If it is all of the above, then I have no idea. Is a ‘peak’ something one can truly discuss while an artist is still actively creating music and performing? Maybe an musical artist can sustain a long career without a definable ‘peak’ or maybe someone’s entire career can be labeled a ‘peak’, in which case it really wouldn’t be a peak. Perhaps the artist himself is the best judge about whether he has peaked, since he is in the best position to know about his own musical abilities. Or can it be the case that one can have several peaks in different musical concentrations/areas (i.e. musical compostion, lyrics, arrangements, performance, etc . . .) throughout one’s career? I suspect that in music, in all forms of music, there are plenty of examples of all the above.
After all, a musical artist’s peak, if there is such a thing, may not have been one era, one year, one album, one concert, or one song but something entirely different. Which category, if any, does Mr. Hornsby fit into I simply do not know.
-Nicos
I think the best way to describe Bruce’s career is that it’s been a constant evolution and pursuit of unchartered territories. I’ve always found it hard to define his career as peaks/valleys. Presently, I think Bruce is not pushing like he’s been for last 20+ years. I don’t think writing is happening like it once did but this is not to say it won’t since Bruce’s is constantly full of surprise. I think the next record will be similar to Halcyon Days but after that, I’m not sure where he goes. It might be more jazz, solo piano stuff. All I know is that it’s been an absolute pleasure to have been along for the ride all this time!!
tgreene wrote:I think the best way to describe Bruce’s career is that it’s been a constant evolution and pursuit of unchartered territories. I’ve always found it hard to define his career as peaks/valleys. Presently, I think Bruce is not pushing like he’s been for last 20+ years. I don’t think writing is happening like it once did but this is not to say it won’t since Bruce’s is constantly full of surprise. I think the next record will be similar to Halcyon Days but after that, I’m not sure where he goes. It might be more jazz, solo piano stuff. All I know is that it’s been an absolute pleasure to have been along for the ride all this time!!In short, our boy gets bored easily. So far, he’s taken this musical version of attention deficit disorder and given us all a wonderful ride through his imagination. It’s been full of surprises, both wonderful and not so, but it’s been anything but boring. That’s why we stay on the ride. The unexpected is always thrilling when Bruce is at the controls. And nobody in the backseat is yelling, “are we there yet?”, because the getting there is probably more fun.
Rich
“He is your leader, he is your guide. On the amazing journey together you’ll ride.” – P. Townshend
rdiakun wrote:In short, our boy gets bored easily. So far, he’s taken this musical version of attention deficit disorder and given us all a wonderful ride through his imagination. It’s been full of surprises, both wonderful and not so, but it’s been anything but boring. That’s why we stay on the ride. The unexpected is always thrilling when Bruce is at the controls. And nobody in the backseat is yelling, “are we there yet?”, because the getting there is probably more fun.Well said!
That’s exactly why I’ve been the “cheerleader” for so long! You guys do get the picture! 😆
David Day
Lake Lanier, GA
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That’s exactly why I’ve been the “cheerleader” for so long! - The forum ‘General chat’ is closed to new topics and replies.