Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

To spend time with your father, or that to whom you see as a surrogate dad, whatever the influence and relationship, as you create a project together is to be upheld as arguably one of the most important rites of passages to go through as a person. The subtle gesture of sharing a dream, of you both prepared to give it all as your own personalities are merged and agreed upon in collaboration love for the other, and for the experience that you hope to gain as time finds a way to showcase the event in memory.

To collaborate with a legend is daunting, but living up to the expectation, even with arguably one of the most lauded and kindest of stars, when it is your own parent is to perhaps find the moment overwhelming. However, for Art Garfunkel Jr. it is surely the reason he has been working towards as an artist in his own right, nights on stage, spending time in rehearsal, all leads eventually to being in the studio with formidable voice of his dad, Art Garfunkel, and bringing a selection of high profile covers to the fore in the absolutely tremendous Father And Son.

Evoking images of the hauntingly beautiful track by Cat Stevens, it comes as no surprise that the harmony between the two men, accentuated by the orchestra that accompanies the vocals, is of the most astonishing aspects, and heightens the emotions of songs that were already profound, already intensely reflective of the human condition.

Quite simply, Father And Son is of the most demanding quality to be placed before the listener in some time, each track, whether a take on the impassioned 80s or renewed from America’s own great song book, is a testament to the sense of the exquisite that each man endows and offers with pleasure.

Tracks such as the opener Blue Moon, the sentiment of alienation and madness in Vincent, the sheer cool of Blackbird, the brilliance of rendition in Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time, the union of Nature Boy, the excellence of Here Comes The Rain Again, and the honesty of ageing that comes in the form of the aforementioned Father And Son, what stands out is the sheer finesse of the combined vocals, so close together in depth, perception and integrity, the wholesome feeling of the album will leave the listener deep in thoughtful, almost introspective mood.

A genuine and seismic investigation into the heart of music, for both men it is heartwarming and endearing union.

Ian D. Hall