Instead of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the classic
Astral Weeks,
Van Morrison continues to deliver new work at an enviable pace. He's long sought to release more than a recording a year in order to keep pace with his intense work ethic. In 2016 he finagled a strategy to accomplish this when he signed separate yet simultaneous label deals allowing him that freedom.
The Prophet Speaks is
Morrison's fourth outing in 18 months. It follows the same musical template begun with 2017's
Roll with the Punches and
Versatile in juxtaposing originals with vintage blues, R&B, and jazz covers. This particular set also continues the association he developed with organist and trumpeter
Joey DeFrancesco's fine quartet -- illustrated so ably on the jazz-heavy
You're Driving Me Crazy.
The Prophet Speaks digs deeper into blues and R&B than its predecessor, but sounds equally loose, joyous, and spontaneous. Its 14 tracks contain six new originals sequenced among eight skillfully performed standards. The fingerpopping opener is
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's "Gonna Send You Back to Where I Got You From," with
Morrison delivering a shouted jump-blues vocal as DeFrancesco doubles on Hammond B-3 and trumpet. Bassist
Troy Roberts also holds down tenor and soprano saxophones, creating the effect of a whole horn-section, as guitarist
Dan Wilson delivers jazzy vamps around Michael Ode's swinging drums.
Morrison's voice in
John Lee Hooker's "Dimples" rumbles with the sensual feel of the original, though its chart is a polished groover as
DeFrancesco and
Wilson offer brief, killer solos. Introduced by a righteous electric piano buoyed by upright bass, the original "Got to Go Where the Love Is" is a soul-gospel tune that would have fit nicely on 2016's
Keep Me Singing. Sandwiched between wonderfully intuitive readings of
Sam Cooke's deep soul blues "Laughin' and Clownin'" and the slippery, gutbucket soul of
Solomon Burke's "Gotta Get You Off My Mind" (with daughter
Shana Morrison on backing vocals) is
Van's jump-blues "5 A.M. Greenwich Mean Time."
DeFrancesco's B-3 fills underscore the resonance in
Morrison's voice. This version of
Willie Dixon's "I Love the Life I Live" is a fantastic update and tribute to
Morrison's influence and hero
Mose Allison's take on it. In another fine sequential juxtaposition, the singer's name-dropping grievance blues "Ain't Gonna Moan No More" lands between a revisioned take on J.D Harris' "Worried Blues/Rollin' and Tumblin'" and
Gene Barge's "Love Is a Five Letter Word" ("spelled M-O-N-E-Y!"); an elegant B-3 and tenor add textural contrast to
Morrison's savvy vocal. Three originals close the set. "Love Is Hard Work" soulfully and bitterly takes on the troublesome topic of love, while "Spirit Will Provide" comes straight out of the singer's Celtic soul book. The moody title track, drenched in prophetic post-midnight exhortation, recalls his reading of "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" on Poetic Champions Compose, with
DeFrancesco adding muted trumpet fills and a solo. Clocking in at over an hour,
The Prophet Speaks breezes through its run-time with memorable performances and joyous vibes. This is a late-career surge that is all the more remarkable because
Morrison really seems to be enjoying himself -- he continues to hunger after the music that inspired his vocation in the first place. ~ Thom Jurek