In a flagrant attempt at beating the ever prolific King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard at their own game, legendary seventysomething Van Morrison upped the ante recently by releasing his third album of new material in just seven months (Roll With The Punches September 2017, Versatile December 2017, You’re Driving Me Crazy April 2018). Australia’s psychedelic kingpins KGATLW took all of 12 months to release just five in 2017 so you be the judge. And with all due respect to Neil Young’s seemingly endless flow of New Releases, both new and archival, the casual listener can be forgiven for not giving a flying pluck of an upright bass that Van Morrison has a new record out. Much of this hurried trilogy focuses on selections from the Great American Songbook; Jazz, Blues, R&B standards and reworked numbers from Morrison’s vast back catalogue. The latest installment You’re Driving Me Crazy captures Morrison partnering with 47-year-old virtuoso trumpet player and Hammond B3 wizard Joey DeFrancesco. Accompanied by DeFrancesco’s crew of top notch jazz sideman, You’re Driving Me Crazy was recorded over a period of just two days in Sausalito, California. Consequently, much of the record comes across sounding like an impromptu live album recorded without the presence of an audience, like a weekend bill in the Catskills where nobody shows up. Recorded live off the floor in a limited number of takes these 15 tracks flow seamlessly through the albums bulging 71 minutes of material. Anyone who has ever been witness to Morrison’s penchant for loosey-goosey freefall vocal improv (e.g. The Last Waltz or his infamous Sinead O’Connor duet on Letterman) will not at all be surprised by much of his singing on this record. And just as surely as there are infinite examples of genius in music rubbing shoulders with madness so too can there be parallels drawn between indulgence and brilliance, especially in terms of Van Morrison’s decades old of love affair with jazz.
Rating: 6.8/10
Star Rating: 2.75/5
2018 Song Of The Day Club Album Review 17/52