THE MEETING OF THE WATERS (Official Release – Norway)
2018 – Headwind Records
Jeff Wasserman has contributed songs to dozens artists over a 35 year songwriting career; with over 350 songs on 75 albums. His last album, Jeffrey & The Free Radikals (with Garth Hudson, Cindy Cashdollar, ++) was a clarion call that as a solo recording artist – Jeff Wasserman – is a force to be reckoned with. Now, with release of his second album “The Meeting Of The Waters” which includes folk/pop legend Paul Brady, Irish folk music legend Andy Irvine, Jonas Fjeld (of Fjeld, Andersen, Danko fame) one must ask the question, why do all these luminaries want to give their time and talents to Wasserman’s recordings? Perhaps this question may be answered by Garth Hudson’s reply to a similar question in a TV interview while supporting the Free Radikals release:
“He’s great, I feel that Jeff follows in the tradition of great poetry and the great poets and the musical end of it is assured”. – Garth Hudson of “The Band”
On the new album, Wasserman has collected the strands of his rich musical life. He boiled his songs down to fiddle tunes and introduced them to his mentor from his formative teens, Jeff Davis, trad. American banjo, fiddle-man and folklorist. Only songs that Davis found to be congruent with traditional folk music were recorded, and mostly in Davis own living room. Wasserman travelled back to to Norway and built upon the recorded fiddle tunes with his arsenal of instruments; added contributions from others in his musical family from 4 different countries – Norway, USA, Ireland and Sweden which also included 18 year old daughter, Ella who makes an impressive vocal debut. Other musical comrades in his “Intercontinental String Band” are also noteworthy – Claudia Scott, Knut Reiersrud, Esbjørn Hazelius, Jørun Bøgeberg, Ingunn Bjørgo, Brennen Leigh.
“The Meeting Of The Waters” is a wholly acoustic album and was recorded using vintage acoustic instruments and with the the best “vintage” microphones available. The result is a rich, warm embroidery and highly organic recording giving the listener the sense of actually being in the same room as the musicians through 12 timeless songs.
Album notes by T Bone Burnett – the famed artist and producer whose iconic work as music producer for film including “Oh, Brother Where Art Thou” and artists including Alison Krauss & Robert Plant, Elvis Costello and is credited with reintroducing Old Timey and traditional American folk music to a new generation of musicians worldwide. Among other things, Burnett says this in his album notes for “The Meeting of the Waters” – “A remarkable collection of songs… One man’s journey to the center of American music, and his trip back out to make his own … Jeff has conquered the world through his soulful discovery”.
Aside from writing and co-writing, arranging producing and designing the album art for this disc, Wasserman also plays a plethora of stringed instruments.
