Roll with the punches
Van Morrison
Keywords
Reviews (3)
AllMusic
2018
By
By
Thom Jurek
2018
"Van Morrison's late career tear continues with You're Driving Me Crazy, his third album in seven months. Following the formula of 2017's Roll with the Punches and Versatile - each offered jazz, blues and R&B standards and redone originals - this set offers eight tracks from Morrison's catalog and seven standards. it stands on its own, however, as a collaborative encounter with jazz organist and trumpeter Joey DeFrancesco's hip quartet. They all holed up in a Sausalito studio and completed the recording in only two days, capturing everything in a take or two.The loose feel is deceptive as the playing is anchored deep".
DownBeat
2018 July
By
By
Brian Zimmerman
2018 July
"At 72, Van Morrison continues to prove he's among the hardest-working vocalists in jazz and its adjacent musical territories, showing no signs of artistic fatigue on You're Driving Me Crazy, his 39th record. The album comprises an eclectic collection of songs, drawing the bulk of its material from the showtune canon, Chicago blues and even Morrison's own illustrious discography. But the distinguishing feature on this latest project is the presence of organist Joey DeFrancesco, whose richly expressed keyboard harmonies and laconic trumpet interludes provide the scenery through which Morrison and the rest of the ensemble explore".
Jazz special
Nr. 162 (2018)
By
By
Tom Buhmann
Nr. 162 (2018)
"I denne anmelders øren har Van Morrison aldrig været den store nuancerede tekstfortolker. Hvis man satte ham til at synge om Rapanden Rasmus fra Rinkenæs, ville det nok lyde stort set som alle andre Van Morrison-sange med samme frasering, intervaller og rytmik. Det er ikke ensbetydende med, at han ikke er en fængende sanger, når materialet matcher hans udtryk, som Guitar Slims "The Things I Used To Do" på dette album, men det betyder at dette, som flere andre af hans album, er en ujævn affære. Når han synger Memphis Slims "Every Day I Have The Blues", tror man simpelthen ikke på ham, og når han vælger Johnny Mercers "Travellin' Light" undgår han ikke, at Billie Holidays version hele tiden kører på det parallelle spor oppe i hovedet på lytteren. Ikke desto mindre er Van Morrison og hans makker, orgelspilleren og trompetisten Joey DeFrancesco, gamle proffer nok til at der er tilstrækkeligt tilbage på albummet til at det er flere lytninger værd, hvis man blot bærer over med de bump, der er på vejen".