Salt River

Description

The Vermont-born, London-based musician, in collaboration with saxophonist and producer Sam Gendel, has reinterpreted and renewed ten songs gathered as part of his decades-long search for a new context to sing folk songs and create folk music. The music of Salt River ranges from the traditional Appalachian ballad "Golden Willow Tree" to a radical reinterpretation of Lou Reed's "Big Sky," and was recorded by Amidon, Gendel, and drummer Philippe Melanson, who played together as a trio during sessions at Gendel's home in Los Angeles. Amidon and Gendel, who first met during his now-legendary residency at the Italian restaurant Pace in Hollywood, have collaborated on various recordings and concerts in recent years; however, Salt River is their first long-term collaboration, born when Amidon suggested digging into his treasure trove of collected songs. As Sam himself describes it: "This album is a campfire, but the campfire is around Sam Gendel's synthesizers. Or maybe it's a journey through the corridors of my memory, when my memory was transplanted into the dreams of Sam and Phil." Taken together, these 10 songs feel like a shared playground of discovery, where Amidon finds new ways to let old songs exist in the company of his two unencumbered collaborators. The trio gives Reed's "Big Sky" the confidence of Arthur Russell, as fluorescent synth pads and trembling electronic drums intertwine with Gendel and Amidon's acoustic guitars; the traditional hymn "Old Churchyard" is surprisingly renamed "Three Five" as it blends rhythms and electronic layers into a redemptive downpour, while plates and glasses clink over the joyful interpretation of Ornette Coleman's ode to community, "Friends And Neighbours."