Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
It seems somewhat odd to believe that someone as exquisite a song writer and musician as David Crosby, a living legend of the American highway and creator of some of the finest music to come out of the Folk/Rock scene has only recorded four solo albums in a career that is as lengthy as the famous Route 66. His work with Graham Nash and Stephen Stills, Buffalo Springfield and Neil Young is inspiring enough; it captures the essence of humanity in all its glory and deep down dirty despair but his solo work, which started in 1971 with the highly rated If I Could Only Remember My Name, has not been prolific. It is a story that has been rectified with his fourth release, the outstanding and beautifully crafted Croz.
If you ever need a musician to get deep into your soul, to keep digging till you see the world through their eyes then get to a gig which features David Crosby, because the man’s sweet, svelte and graceful voice will capture your heart and only give it back when you drop all resistance to a world that is shrouded in a peaceful embrace. Croz typifies the magnitude of a man who has pretty much seen it all in his time. The look of a kindly grandfather, the sage advice of a wise and erudite Native American all wrapped up in the body of a man who takes music and its message very seriously. Not only do the words have a meaning, a lesson to impart but the notes of the guitar and assorted instruments despatch a sort of significance, as if sending out the measured response to a declaration of love.
Croz is made by a man and those fortunate enough to perform alongside him, including James Raymond, Shane Fontayne, Kevin McCormick, Wynton Marsalis and Mark Knopfler, with not just a message to impart but a novel in music form, the culmination of a life’s work that has been just simply stunning.
Whether it comes from the Time I Have, the poignant Radio, the beauty of communication and hope in Set That Baggage Down and the poetic approach of a long journey undertaken in life, If She Called, the album is more than just a collection of well-written songs keenly played by a man who just doesn’t know what a bad song is, this is the fanning of a flame in which tells his story, his pain, the mystery behind the enigmatic smile.
A phenomenal album, full of pathos, pride and one to prick the inflated conscious of all who come to it with open mind and arms.
Ian D. Hall