Perhaps there is no musician more American than a singer-songwriter from the blue-collar shipyards of Belfast. But just as the states have embraced Van Morrison over the past four decades, he's confessing lately that he needs you too.

You can always rely on Morrison to deliver soulful rhythm and blues that strips away the current rancor of popular music. Which is what his latest effort Magic Time succeeds in doing, spanning as it does his four decades as a solo artist. From leader of the Irish rock group Them to an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 to a 2003 Grammy win for his last album What's Wrong With This Picture? Morrison has always taken sonic snapshots of every genre he's touched.

“You can call it nostalgia/I don't mind,” he sings on the title track, which could be called more of a biography. Because Morrison's catalogue boast a concision far surpassing that of his most famous songs “Moondance” and “Brown-Eyed Girl,” both classics in their own right but compositions that fall short of telling his entire musical story. This time around, Morrison issues his own trademark soul with a big band swing, rolling through standards like Sinatra's “This Love of Mine,” Perry Como and Guy Lombardo's “I'm Confessin'," and Fats Waller's “Lonely and Blue.” Although he isn't as adept at jazz adaptation as say, Elvis Costello, Morrison still remains a unique master. There is a familiarity about him that stands the test of time. He comes across like your eclectic uncle, standing at your door and bearing strange gifts.

Introduced with the lark call of a dreamy saxophone, “Stranded” unfurls the story of a man finding himself in limbo “between that ol' devil and the deep blue sea,” navigating the pitfalls of life's obligations, where there's always "one more, one more mountain to climb.” The song's beefy blues make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Even your grandpa is cool.

“Celtic New Year” hauntingly floats a four-chord riff and a clean guitar solo to talk about rebirth and relationships. Morrison also embraces Muddy Waters on “Keep Mediocrity at Bay” and goes frantic on the stomping “Evening Train.” Meanwhile, “Just Like Greta” offers a poignant glimpse inside loneliness:“Well I guess I'm going A.W.O.L./Disconnect my telephone/Just like Greta Garbo/I want to be alone."

Which is funny, considering that Magic Time is the blueprint of what is quite certainly the time of Van Morrison's life. -- Ryan Gray

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Morphizm Mashup:
July 2005

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Van Morrison

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