Bruce Hornsby is a singer/songwriter/pianist known for creating a gumbo mix of MOR catchiness, roots-rock traditionalism, bluegrass flourishes, jam-band virtuosity and jazz improvisation in his pop songs. So it’s hardly a surprise that Hornsby finally decided to make a full-on and full-blown jazz album.
He’s already released a bluegrass album with Ricky Skaggs that came out earlier this year. Maybe next year Hornsby will make an album with Phish. Who knows? But after listening to Hornsby’s Camp Meeting a few times, I’m not sure I care anymore.
Sure, you can hear echoes of Hornsby’s be-bop heroes in the songs, a little Bill Evans here, some Keith Jarrett there and Bud Powell all over the place. Teaming up with bassist Christian McBride and dynamic drummer Jack DeJohnette, Hornsby’s liner-note potential for Camp Meeting seems endless.
But Hornsby breaks the cardinal rule of jazz, or any genre for that matter: The music is boring. There’s nothing fresh or fun in Hornsby’s originals or his Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis remakes. The one highlight may be DeJohnette’s trap work on “Solar,” a Miles Davis composition.
It’s time for Hornsby to dig his heels in and try to find the melody and playfulness of his earlier albums by delving into another genre for his next album: the pop song. That’s the one that might make Hornsby relevant again.
Bruce Hornsby
Camp Meeting
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