US born, UK based composer and musician Jeff GREEN first appeared as a recording artist back in 2009, with his self released album “Jessica”, a conceptual creation revolving around his late daughter of the same name. An emotional and possibly cathartic creation. Five years later he returns, now with more of a band based effort, and possibly due to that opting to use the moniker Jeff Green Project for his second album “Elder Creek”, which was released through UK label Festival Music at the start of 2014.
While I’ve never been one to focus all that much on the lyrics, those with an interest in such matters might note that Green once again have chosen to create a concept album, although I wouldn’t be all that surprised if he stated that the concept chose him. One of the blessings and curses of having a creative mind is, after all, that ideas will take over and demand to be given an outlet. The concept this time around revolves around memories, and especially the loss of them from what I understand. Which is a nice change from all the fantasy, horror and science fiction based concepts more traditionally explored by musicians.
In terms of music, this is an album that is somewhat hard to pinpoint though. This is a guy that has a deep affection for music from the 1970’s, and there are multiple references to music from that decade throughout. A recurring feature are vintage oriented, jubilant keyboard escapades. What at least sounds like old keyboards and the good, old organ takes turns with the guitar to produce both soaring, elegant and majestic solo passages, and as far as the guitar solo parts go those who enjoy the style of guitarists like Andrew Latimer and David Gilmour should find Green’s blues-tinged guitar solo runs to be a sheer joy. That he’s also capable of some more modern style shred-like antics is also showcased on a select few occasions though.
While Camel and Pink Floyd can and probably should be referenced, there are alos other dimensions to this production. A subtle element that sticks throughout is what I’d describe as an American vibe. The lead vocals, accent and some of the vocal harmonies is a part of that picture, and some details here and there that possibly points in the direction of The Eagles isn’t as farfetched as it may sound due to Green’s involvement in tribute band The Illegal Eagles, and there are also some detours made into pastoral, Irish tinged folk-inspired territories as well as to funk-flavored archetypical 1970’s AOR, but also occasional detours into landscapes closer to 1980’s neo progressive rock.
When that has been said, this isn’t at all a fragmented affair. The individual songs and the album as a whole has a strong feeling of cohesion throughout, there’s nothing that sounds out of place and none of the compositions can be described as being of a markedly different style than the others. So while this is an album that covers a fair bit of stylistic ground, it does so in a well thought out manner, and one that won’t demand it’s listeners to have an extensive and broad taste in music.
Personally I found this disc to be an enjoyable one. As there’s a strong 70’s sound going on, a fairly liberal use of keyboards but also an undercurrent of what I’d describe as Americana sounding elements, I’d guess that those who enjoy the works of bands Camel and The Eagles on a fairly equal level might be pretty close to the ideal audience for this album.
My rating: 77/100
