Howard Gladstone

With his new 12-song release CRAZY TALK, Howard Gladstone casts his song writing net very wide to haul in some hope, reassurance, and moral sustenance – for himself and for us. Though much of what he sees around him is insane, bleak, terrifying – and most of what he can hear is the painful ‘crying of the times’, nonetheless in the end he believes we are all ‘born to endure’, even if it should be ‘beneath a broken sky’. This new set of original songs is a considerate, compassionate recording, with not a little wisdom in it. He is one of the elders now, beyond youthful posturing, offering at once ‘my voice, my soul, my song’ for what we listeners may make of them. This is a mature offering, serious but with quite the undercurrent of wry humour – whether he is trying to understand history (‘Inheritance of Junk’), personal relationships (‘Bodies In Motion’), or the so-called music business (Show A Little Love (For Free, Part II)).

Howard’s core band, whose musical interpretations have been honed by many seasons’ residence at Toronto’s TRANZAC CLUB, consists of bassist Bob Cohen and guitarist Tony Quarrington. Frequently they are joined by pianist/vocalist Laura Fernandez, who provides gorgeous harmonies. On this rich effort, they are aided and abetted by Glenn Anderson (drums/percussion), Shelley Coopersmith (violin), George Crotty (cello), Jacob Gorzhaltsan (flute/sax/clarinet),  Ed Michael Roth (keys/accordion) and Alan McKinlay (background vocals).

Howard’s influences are clear to see – Dylan and Cohen would be the chief ones -and John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson at a second level – but his own song writing- tone and voice are now clearer than ever. Over the course of eight full-length recordings, he has developed significantly as a poet/composer, and the various strands of meaning in all the tunes – whether personal, poetic, political, prophetic- have become more profoundly interlinked. There is a concept in Judaism – TIKKUN OLAM- by which we are enjoined, individually and collectively, to heal or repair the world. This is a helpful, sustaining album that pushes a little in that hopeful direction, and sounds pretty darn good in doing so. 

–   Tony Quarrington (guitarist, co-producer, co-writer of five songs on Crazy Talk)