MICHAEL FEINSTEIN TAKES US DOWN THE BACKROADS IN GERSHWIN COUNTRY BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ
GRAMMY AND EMMY-NOMINATED MUSICIAN MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, A KEEPER OF THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK, HAS LIVED A LIFE THAT IF PRESENTED ON SCREEN, WOULD BE TOO CRAZY TO BELIEVE. The icons (who have earned that title
rightfully), the music, the performances, the collaborations, and the chance meetings would spring up on Michael’s journey like characters waiting on the side of the yellow brick road. This season, he debuts a new album that is almost too delicious to believe. Called Gershwin Country, Michael reimagines the music of Ira and George Gershwin through a country music lens with a series of duets featuring the biggest names from the genre including Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, Lee Ann Womack, Amy Grant, and Rosanne Cash. Did we mention it was executive produced by Liza Minelli? The album was inspired several years ago by a conversation Michael had with none other than poet Maya Angelou when the two chatted about their love of music. Who knew that Angelou was such a country music fan? Many country music artists have covered the Great American Songbook, there is a symbiosis between the two genres. In today’s music where autotune and electronic riffs fill the airwaves, country music artists may be the last leaders in telling stories through original music. The bones of the classic American Songbook are malleable and can be interpreted in many ways. The symbiosis is that the country genre is based on melodic music and lyric interpretation and country music artists know how to tell a story and to interpret a lyric in a way that makes it their own, so the Songbook, in that sense, is a natural for country artists. Feinstein admits that he is a very tough critic of his own work, but because this is made of duets, is his most satisfying album yet. The first track on the album that was recorded was Dolly Parton’s “Love is Here to Stay.” From that session, Michael was able to move forward with a truly clear idea of what the sound of the recording should be and where it was going. By the time this album was completed, even this musical impresario learned something new. I learned a certain spontaneity or openness in recording because I worked with the most amazing group of musicians in Nashville. Recording in Nashville is different from recording any place else because these are very, very well-educated musicians, musically speaking, and yet they also have the tremendous ability, or tremendous gift, of improvisation. So even though there were blueprints for the arrangements on the recording, so much of it happened spontaneously, be it a key change or a riff or any other device that was incorporated into a track. It was coming up with an idea and then immediately being able to realize it through the extraordinary gifts of the musicians who were present. METROSOURCE.COM
APRIL/MAY 2022
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