Tom Varner: The Window Up Above
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80552     Release Date: 1998-01-01

American Songs 1770 - 1998

Tom Varner, French horn; Pete McCann, guitar; George Schuller, drums; Lindsey Horner, bass; Mark Feldman, violin; Dave Ballou, trumpet; Steve Alcott, bass; Thirsty Dave Hansen, vocals*

“I wanted to do something different for this record. Instead of playing my own compositions, I wanted to simply explore a variety of songs that have an inner resonance, whether from family, religion, nation, or culture.”                                                 —Tom Varner

What Tom Varner has attempted on The Window Up Above is nothing less than a survey of the whole American song book, a millenium review of the last three centuries-and he succeeds brilliantly. Every song he has chosen has that American "thing," and his approach to every song is patently jazz, even where he chooses to play the melody "straight" to let its qualities shine through.

Highlights abound: The witty, off-center de- and reconstruction of the Revolutionary and Civil War smash hits "Stone Grinds All," "When  Jesus Wept," "Kingdom Come, " and "Battle Cry of Freedom" will forever change the way you hear them; his understated, heartfelt renditions of "Lorena," "All Quiet on the Potomac," and "There is a Balm in Gilead" would make a stone weep; to say nothing of his splendid re-imaginings of  standards like "Over the Rainbow" and "When the Saints Go Marching In."

Even Bruce Springsteen gets the treatment, his "With Every Wish" joining George Jones’s "The Window Up Above," Hank Williams's "Ramblin' Man,"(check out Mark Feldman's and Varner's hair-raising solos and closing duet) and Tammy Wynette's "Till I Get it Right" from the country canon.

In Varner’s unique arrangements, every song on this collection emerges freshly minted. Once heard, not soon forgotten.

* * *

"Beautiful new arrangements of country music and traditional songs." —Bandcamp

Tom Varner

Tom Varner: The Window Up Above

MP3/320 $16.00
FLAC $16.00
WAV $16.00
CD $25.00

Track Listing

Stone Grinds All
Traditional
Buy
The Window Up Above
George Jones
Buy
I Got it Bad
Duke Ellington
Buy
Kingdom Coming
Henry Clay Work
Buy
Over The Rainbow
Harold Arlen
Buy
My God Is Real (Yes God Is Real)
Kenneth Morris
Buy
The Man I Love
George Gershwin
Buy
When The Saints Go Marching In
Traditional
Buy
Lorena
Joseph Philbrick Webster
Buy
Till I Get Right
Red Lane
Buy
Memories of You
Eubie Blake
Buy
Battle Cry of Freedom
George F. Root
Buy
All Quiet on The Potomac
John Hill Hewitt
Buy
Ramblin' Man
Hank Williams
Buy
Abide With Me
W. H Monk
Buy
When Jesus Wept
William Billings
Buy
With Every Wish
Bruce Springsteen
Buy
The Best Thing
Tom Varner
Buy
There Is a Balm in Gilead
Traditional
Buy