ReleaseDate : 2005-03-08

Studio : Red House

Publisher : Red House

Binding : Audio CD

Album Description
The stunning "Blue Nightfall" is LaFave's first release in 4 years (following the critically acclaimed 2001 CD, "Texoma") and his first release on Red House Records. While the CD has all the qualities we've come to expect from LaFave - singular vocals, gifted songwriting, soulful ballads and gritty, Oklahoma "red-dirt" roots-rock there's a new dimension present in this recording reflecting the path he's taken since his last album. Over the last four years, Jimmy has had a wealth of experiences - becoming a father, organizing and playing on the Woody Guthrie Tribute Tour, a couple of hundred thousand more miles on the odometer and a tangle of back roads discovered. He's left all those things and more on this remarkably personal record.

The album was recorded with a gifted cast of musicians at Austin's Cedar Creek Studio, the recording place of The Dixie Chicks (Home), Shawn Colvin (Grammy winning - A Few Small Repairs), Uncle Tupelo (Anodyne), Bob Mould/Sugar, Jerry Jeff Walker and others. On Blue Nightfall, Jimmy enlisted the talents of his band members Will Landin (Bass), Wally Doggit (percussion), and Larry Wilson (guitar) along with some special guests like guitarist Gurf Morlix (Lucinda Williams, Slaid Cleaves), keyboardists Radoslav Lorkovic and others. The result of this collaboration among friends is a beautifully clean sounding work of art that is LaFave's most cohesive and accessible album to date.

Amazon.com
Though Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie have long served as the major musical touchstones for veteran folk-rocker Jimmy LaFave, the shimmering atmospherics of this release's title track suggest a chicken-fried Van Morrison, while the reckless rock 'n' roll of "Music from the Motor Court" conjures comparisons to a renewed Jerry Lee Lewis. From the delicate balladry of "Rain Falling Down" to the Jack Kerouac homage of "Bohemian Cowboy Blues," LaFave remains an uncommonly emotive vocalist, with his tremulous tenor always on the verge of a soulful sob. But where his voice has long been more memorable than much of his original material, he establishes himself here as a songwriter of maturity, reflection, and range. The arrangements are as subtle as the musical backing is superb, putting the focus on LaFave and the way that his voice enhances his songs of all-American wanderlust. --Don McLeese