Search - Fred Moolten :: Moonlit River

A brilliant sequel to "The Way We Are", Fred Moolten?s extraordinary debut album, "Moonlit River" serves up a compelling mix of haunting blues, late night dreaminess, and catchy rhythm that testifies to the depth and breadth of his artistic vision. Moolten is not himself a performer, but it hardly matters here. Lisa Hindmarsh and Rodan Weikert not only sing well, but more importantly for a Moolten song, they sing expressively. Nor does it hurt that the acoustic guitar work on this CD comes from Ernie Hawkins, a student of the late blues guitar legend Reverend Gary Davis. Hawkins himself has been called "one of the most accomplished and impressive blues guitarists of our time", and listeners to the title song "Moonlit River", will have no difficulty understanding why. Max Leake (piano), Brian Stahurski (bass), and Pete Freeman (dobro, pedal steel) are other notable performers, as is Nelson Harrison ? a trombonist and inventor of the trombetto, which he solos! on "Last Dance". Dino DiStefano is the sound engineer, as he was for the 1997 Grammy Award winning performance by the Count Basie Orchestra (Nelson Harrison also toured with Basie). All in all, an illustrious group and an impressive sequel to "The Way We Are".