American Heartland By Todd Mosby

 

American Heartland

By

Todd Mosby

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

Todd Mosby has been on my musical radar for some 10 years now, with my first release obtained being Eagle Mountain back in 2016. However we take a slightly different course with this latest release from Todd called American Heartland, with an album that caters for multiple genres. This is a 12-track collection that unites contemporary jazz and folk, new age, solo acoustic guitar, and blues in such a smooth and classy way.

The entire collection of superior compositions starts with the piece Clouds above Golden Fields, if any a track would create such a delightful sense of ambience with a folk element this is it. One can literally feel the charming wide-open landscapes through this acoustic guitar driven opus.

There are more rhythmic Latin styled jazz tracks like the fluent Palomino, with its bossa nova samba jazz ethic, and then swiftly onto Witchi Tai and Witchi Tai (postlude), I believe this could be referring to the Native American peyote chant, regardless the first part is a more vibrant oasis of crafted intelligence, the later a soft and more charming reflective offering.

Mosby certainly does capture the soul of Missouri on this album, with gems like my favourite Glenn Campbell track Wichita Lineman originally released in 1968. This is a brilliant smooth jazz, cross folk creation, one that has a lot of beautiful qualities about its arrangement, including some exceptional vocals from Lola Kristine. I have long been a fan of this specific piece, and to hear a version of it I like apart from Glens is a very good thing indeed.

The more acoustic flavours of tracks like On The Farm captures rural life perfectly and offerings like Joanies Town offer a slightly more vibrant pop ethic into this marvellous stream of musical consciousness, a little funk and a wonderful trumpet of Dan Fornero.

The title track pulls us in further and of course called American Heartland, the alternating bass lines for movement among the upbeat tempo truly reminds me of one of the best bands ever in Steely Dan, and once more Mosby reigns supreme on electric guitar, enabled beautifully by the stunning Tom Scott on saxophone, on this the most exciting and vibrant composition from the album.

All The Stars Tonight is one of those smooth jazz tracks you never want to end, Mosby on guitar is sublime, a smooth hand indeed, one could with ease enjoy a night time introspection under open skies to this classy track, whilst the driving bass line from none other than Michael Manring raises the bar another notch entirely.

In the deeper weave of the album we sample a crossroads of a piece with the bluesy number A Full Moon Rising. For fans of solo guitar, this is a prime example why Todd Mosby is a master of his instrument in this multi-paced creation. The penultimate offering is called Land Of Green, referring to the lush qualities of the area of St Louis area in the summertime, the layered and light brass here creates added warmth, whilst Tom Scott on saxophone, literally knocks it out of the park on this funky little manifestation.

We conclude the album with a tribute to an incredible song called Both Sides Now. Released originally by the quite incredible Joni Mitchel, originally released back in ‘69, and here some 57 years later performed sublime by Mosby and the band, and the breath-taking vocals of Lola Kristine.

American Heartland by Todd Mosby isn’t just a good album it’s a wonderful cornucopia of multi-genre delights, and one of the finest I have heard for many a year, there truly is something for everyone here, and as such I look forward to seeing its success on the charts in the near future, as the ethereal encores of brilliant albums like this should be celebrated and enjoyed forever.