Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Robin Williamson: The Iron Stone

123

Robin Williamson: The Iron Stone

Robin Williamson: The Iron Stone
Singer/multi-instrumentalist Robin Williamson's The Iron Stone is one of his most unusual ones, because it is a careful blend between experimental, improvised music and poetry. Recorded in the Welsh countryside, Williamson's third outing for ECM continues to evolve and develop what began on 2002's Skirting The River Road. While previously he favored and looked for inspiration in the words of Dylan Thomas, Walt Whitman and William Blake, this time he draws on the verse of Thomas Wyatt, Walter Raleigh, John Clare and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as his own poetry.

His narration, in combination with sonic elements and music, creates very intriguing atmospheres. It sounds organic yet, at the same time, strange and unfamiliar. You can really feel the energy and the power behind it. This merging of many musical styles presents a moody collage demonstrative of his great musical spectrum.

Williamson's group, featuring bass veteran Barre Phillips, fiddle player Mat Maneri and folk instrumentalist Ale Moller, creates rich and atmospheric textures with an otherworldly feeling.

In general the album is an intriguing marriage of spoken word and music. There's a radical reworking of an old Scottish traditional tune, "Sir Patrick Spens. Williamson presents new takes on material from his younger days with the Incredible String Band, including "The Yellow Snake and the title track. He also revisits few tracks from his solo output: "Political Lies, "Verses at Ellesmere and "To God In God's Absence.

The Iron Stone is not an easy album to listen to, even though the playing is first class. It is not just an excursion into otherworldliness; it's also a celebration of language and poetry mixed with music.

Track Listing

The Climber; Sir Patrick Spens; Wyatt

Personnel

Robin Williamson: vocals, Celtic harp, Mohan vina, Chinese flute, whistles, tabwrdd drum; Mat Maneri: viola, Hardanger fiddle; Barre Phillips: double-bass; Ale M

Album information

Title: The Iron Stone | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: ECM Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante
All In Motion
Dave Redmond
Cat & The Hounds
Colin Hancock's Jazz Hounds Featuring Catherine...

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.