Search - Jack Logan & Bob Kimbell :: Woodshedding

One more try up the hill

Raymond Ullmer | Mahwah, NJ, USA | 02/20/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Why is it that all of Jack Logan's CDs seem to be sequenced in reverse order? "Further South", "Host of the Party", and "Legs and Brains", all OK songs, lead off "Woodshedding", his latest effort, but pale in comparison to some of the truly great material that kicks in a little later on. We are introduced to Logan as an increasingly southern crooner, complete with twang and steel guitars. And when in the past it would be high time for the buzz-saw guitars of "Mood Elevator" and "Tinker" to arrive, there is instead "I Still Miss Her Dog", a novelty song done in a pop-country vein. It would have been great as a hidden track at the end, but so early on it sort of misfires. Use the time to get a cold one from the fridge and hurry back though, because the best is about to come.Now we hear the dreamer and poet who wrote and sang the haunting "15 Years in Indiana" on "Bulk". The mind-game drifting of "Nothing but Sky" arrives like a warm tide and washes over any concerns thus far. Any tired traveler lifting off the runway heading home will relate to this moody piece. Then the despair of "Here Comes Sisyphus", with Logan casting himself as the Greek mythological character condemned to rolling a heavy rock up a hill, only to watch it roll back down again and have to start over, for all eternity. The introspective "The Only Son", the angry "Ripped it Away", the accusing "Holes in Your Story". All like chapters of a novel, each filling in details and constructing a picture that is trying to be communicated across. Logan and cohort Bob Kimbell blend together wonderfully, one of those great harmony combinations that just sounds tremendous.All leading to best song on the CD, the calypso-esque "Navigator Type" that subtly swings all over the place with odd beats and timings. "We'll get there sooner or later - I'm the navigator type" is Logan's optimistic promise, in what begins to turn into lullaby at the end.Then the pretty "Just as You Are", attached to an extra instrumental track ("I Still Miss Her Dog" without the lyric) to finish things off.As with Logan's last effort, "Monkey's Paw", the original Liquor Cabinet band, featuring Kelly Keneipp that so energized some earlier Logan material is not present, and there are moments here when they are sorely missed. But there is still a lot to like, including some of Logan's best ever work. It is so frustrating to look at this year's grammy nominations, filled mostly with truly mediocre performances, then to see this very talented guy struggling to get some attention. Like the sequencing, something is just backwards. Hopefully one day soon the rock stays at the top of the hill."