Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
You can listen to some people play live and know that the studio will not be as kind too them as what they sound like as they do in the raw, then there a select few that just fill the room with their life, their presence that every single piece of the being comes out and the seemingly random moments just become something so believable, so authentic and discerning that the microphone just wants them to play all night. Such is the emotion that a listener will get when they listen to Gary Edward Jones’ album The Cabinet Maker.
When an album comes with baggage, the whole group ethic can be something that takes away from the experience of listening to one single heartbeat, sometimes too many voices detract from what you learn, the encounter tamed by beautiful music but with so many voices running round in your head. When placed in the hands of one musician, the army of understanding rounds on the knowledge and elevates it to a point in which the voice of the man becomes something sacred.
To hear the thoughts of a single person is one that grabs at humanity, to be allowed that peek into what makes them tick brings a closer understanding, not just of the musician but also to how you react to them and in The Cabinet Maker, the join in indiscernible, there is nothing manufactured, just an album of pure joy.
The album is greatly enhanced by the appearance of musicians such as Jack Beacall, Elizabeth Kearney and Skeet Williams and on tracks such as the beautiful opener of Free Falling, Real Life Paradise, the heart pounding appeal of Superheroes and Mr Lonely Times, The Cabinet Maker opens a door wide open on the world of Gary Edward Jones and the life he has lived through. To be part of that life, even if it is just as you are sat in your chair and taking in the cerebral thought, is an honour, a mark of privilege that you cannot help but fall for.
The Cabinet Maker is a piece of intricate, polished material with no laminated afterthought in which hides a gem, it is always relevant and not destined to become a dusty unloved antique, how can it be when something this superb has been created.
Ian D. Hall