Paul Jost: While We Were Gone

According to Francis Bacon, some books are to be tasted and others to be swallowed whole. Likewise with recordings. Some are to be sampled. Others are to be thoroughly assimilated.

Where the listener lands with Paul Jost will depend on a host of things. Are you political? If so, are you progressive? Then by all means, this recording is for you. Jost's soliloquy, "January 6th: An Appeal for Reason" will no doubt be convincing. If your politics are otherwise, you may well take a pass.

If you enjoy orthodox renderings of standards, Jost is probably not for you. If you prefer melodies reharmonized and refashioned, then Jost is for you. There are so many done variously, scatting, sighing, vocalizing if not quite singing, but all expressing raw emotion—"Young and Foolish," "Some Other Time," "Lover Man," "My Foolish Heart" —just to name a few, that you may be captivated. Perhaps not on first hearing, but as you realize that Jost is trying to extract the emotional core of a tune in an almost impressionistic way, you may well warm to what he is doing.

There is representational art, and then abstract expressionism. Jost's work has more in common with the latter. If that genre leaves you cold, Jost may not be for you. On the other hand, the more adventuresome may find Jost captivating. And it becomes more so with repetition, always the sign of thoughtful, if not easy art. Are you unsure? Then do not take the easy way out. Listening to Paul Jost is indeed a challenge on many levels, but, as the saying goes, things worthwhile are seldom easy.