The originals in the set sit alongside these well-chosen covers quite nicely. The title cut is a delightful vamp on which Hornsby casually rides over DeJohnette's creole shuffle without once succumbing to the temptation to hot-dog it. McBride states the theme in the upper register while Bruce covers it down low. "Charlie, Woody And You" combines a solidly blues-based bass line with dissonant piano chords that somehow stays tethered to the simple chord progression.
I wish someone had "blindfold tested" me with this album to make me guess who's record this is, much as McBride and DeJohnette had done to others. But honestly, I don't think that not knowing whose record this is would have affected my enthusiasm over it much, if at all. OK, so Bruce Hornsby won't ever be mentioned alongside his influences in the realm of jazz piano, but he proved here that he's plenty good enough to hang with the big dogs and lay down a set of tracks that maintains some originality while being a whole lot of fun. The tall guy who'd rather gig as a sideman for the Grateful Dead than place hits in the Top Twenty opens his mind again and gives whatever of his original audience is still hanging around more food for open souls.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
Harbor Lights is actually one of my all-time favorite discs, for reasons I can't entirely explain. Hornsby is masterful.
2 - Mark Saleski
great record, isn't it? i played the bejezuz out of it for the first week or so.
3 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.
4 - Pico
Much appreciated, Connie!
5 - Mat Brewster
I can't for the life of me find this disk anywhere. Not that there are a lot of legitimate CD sellers in Shanghai that carry Hornsby, but I can't even find it on a torrent.
I really dig Hornsby and I was looking forward to hearing his venture into straight jazz.
Darn.
6 - Dtschlack
It is an awesome piece of work. I'm a big fan of every artist on
this project.
I found it Rhapsody. Nice review.