Legendary
songwriter, recording artist and performer Paul Simon will release his 14th
studio album – In The Blue Light – on September 7. Produced by Simon and Roy Halee, who have
worked together since the 1960s, the album features a talented cast of
musicians who have joined Simon to lend fresh perspectives on 10 of the
artist's favorite (though perhaps less-familiar) songs, drawn from his
unparalleled body of work.
Revisiting his repertoire, Simon has selected songs
originally appearing on There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973), Still Crazy After All These Years (1975),
One-Trick Pony (1980), Hearts and Bones (1983), The Rhythm of The Saints
(1990), You're The One (2000) and So Beautiful Or So What (2011), refreshing
and transforming the compositions through new arrangements and collaborations.
Among the many musicians joining Simon on In The Blue Light
are jazz icons trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummers
Jack DeJohnette and Steve Gadd. Two of
the compositions recorded with the New York-based chamber ensemble sextet
yMusic, "Can't Run But" and "Rene and Georgette Magritte with
Their Dog After the War," are being brought to the stage each night as
show-stopping highlights on Simon's Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour.
Simon explains in the album's liner notes, "It's an
unusual occurrence for an artist to have the opportunity to revisit earlier
works and re-think them; to modify, even completely change parts of the
originals.
"Happily, this opportunity also gave me the gift of
playing with an extraordinary group of musicians, most of whom I hadn't
recorded with before. I hope the listener will find these new versions of old
songs refreshed, like a new coat of paint on the walls of an old family
home."
The release of In The Blue Light on September 7 coincides
with the final leg of Homeward Bound – Farewell Tour in September, including
four performances in the New York City area and culminating with the Final
Performance on September 22 in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The credits for Paul Simon's In The Blue Light are as
follows:
Words and Music by Paul Simon
01 One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor
Paul Simon: Vocal, Percussion
Joel Wenhardt: Piano
Nate Smith: Drums
Jim Oblon: Guitar
John Patitucci: Bass
Edie Brickell: Finger Snaps
CJ Camerieri: Trumpet
Andy Snitzer: Saxophone
02 Love
Paul Simon: Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Harmonium
Bill Frisell: Electric Guitar
Steve Gadd: Drums
Renaud Garcia-Fons: Bass
03 Can't Run But
Paul Simon: Vocal
With yMusic
Arrangement by Bryce Dessner based on the original
arrangement from Rhythm of the Saints by Marco Antônio Guimarães
04 How The Heart Approaches What It Yearns
Paul Simon: Vocal
Sullivan Fortner: Piano
Nate Smith: Drums
John Patitucci: Bass
Wynton Marsalis: Trumpet
05 Pigs, Sheep and Wolves
Paul Simon: Vocal, Percussion
Wynton Marsalis: Trumpet
Marcus Printup: Trumpet
Dan Block: Clarinet
Walter Blanding: Saxophone
Wycliffe Gordon: Tuba
Chris Crenshaw: Trombone
Marion Felder: Drums
Herlin Riley: Tambourine
Arrangement by Wynton Marsalis
06 René and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War
Paul Simon: Vocal, Electric Guitar
With yMusic
Arrangement by Robert Sirota
07 The Teacher
Paul Simon: Vocal, Percussion
Odair Assad: Guitar
Sérgio Assad: Guitar
Renaud Garcia-Fons: Bass, Percussion
Walter Blanding: Saxophone
Jamey Haddad: Percussion
08 Darling Lorraine
Paul Simon: Vocal, Percussion
Bill Frisell: Electric Guitar
Vincent Nguini: Electric Guitar
Mark Stewart: Acoustic Guitar
Steve Gadd: Drums
John Patitucci: Bass
With yMusic
Arrangement by Rob Moose
09 Some Folks' Lives Roll Easy
Paul Simon: Vocal
Sullivan Fortner: Piano, Celeste
Jack DeJohnette: Drums
John Patitucci: Bass
Joe Lovano: Saxophone
10 Questions For The Angels
Paul Simon: Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Harmonica,
Percussion
Bill Frisell: Electric Guitar
Sullivan Fortner: Harmonium, Chromelodeon
John Patitucci: Bass
Skip LaPlante: Percussion
yMusic is
CJ Camerieri: trumpet, piccolo trumpet
Alex Sopp: flute, alto flute
Hideaki Aomori: clarinet, bass clarinet
Rob Moose: violin
Nadia Sirota: viola
Gabriel Cabezas: cello
Having created a distinctive and beloved body of work that
includes 14 studio albums, plus five studio albums as half of Simon &
Garfunkel, Paul Simon is the recipient of 16 Grammy Awards, three of
which—Bridge over Troubled Water, Still Crazy after All These Years, and
Graceland—were Album of the Year honorees. In 2003, he received a Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in Simon & Garfunkel, and has sold
more than 100 million records worldwide.
During his unparalleled career, Simon has achieved 29 Top 40
singles in the U.S. alone, with 14 of those reaching the Top 10 or higher,
including "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (which reached #1),
"Kodachrome," "Loves Me Like A Rock," "Mother and
Child Reunion," "Late In The Evening," "You Can Call Me
Al" and many others. With Simon & Garfunkel, he wrote and performed
the #1 singles, "The Sound of Silence," "Mrs. Robinson,"
"Bridge Over Troubled Water," and numerous other timeless hits.
Paul Simon is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and
has been inducted into the
Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, both as a member of Simon &
Garfunkel and as a solo artist. Simon was a recipient of the Kennedy Center
Honors in 2002 and was named one of Time magazine's "100 People Who Shape
Our World" in 2006. In 2007, Simon was awarded the inaugural Library of
Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which recognizes the profound and
positive effect of popular music on the world's culture. He was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011. And in 2012, he was named the
recipient of the prestigious Polar Music Prize along with classical cellist
Yo-Yo Ma.
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