Essential track: Glenn Jones debuts ‘Across the Tappan Zee’ video
This post has been updated. See below for details.
A few months back at Sonos Studio in West Hollywood, guitarist Glenn Jones performed solo work in conjunction with a recently completed documentary on the late guitarist John Fahey. Fahey’s ability at crafting what he called “American primitive” guitar music resulted in some of the great six-string compositions of the 1960s and ‘70s.
Jones, best known for his Boston instrumental project Cul de Sac, his work with former Can vocalist Damo Suzuki and as the curator of the excellent Fahey box set, “Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You: The Fonotone Years,” was stunning at Sonos, and during a pre-performance conversation suggested I keep an eye out for his new record, “My Garden State,” put out by the respected Chicago label Thrill Jockey. [Disclosure: I served as an unpaid moderator during a Q&A; session that evening.]
The record’s now out, and Pop & Hiss is premiering a humble clip that captures Jones on banjo performing “Across the Tappan Zee,” a self-penned song that already has the feel of a standard. Featuring fellow banjo player Laura Baird, who recorded “My Garden State” at her home in Allentown, N.J., “Tappan Zee” is a meditative gem.
Check out the video premiere below.
Update: The original version of this incorrectly identified the recording location of “My Garden State.” It was recorded at Laura Baird’s house, not, as originally stated, Jones’ mother’s home.
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