An album for eclectic tastes, “Delicious Vignettes Of Recent American Kind” by Evergreen shows promise as contemporary art.
Evergreen, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter hailing from Austin, Texas, has released a new album. Delicious Vignettes Of Recent American Kind, as the album is titled, is a highly experimental one, featuring a cacophonous recitation of the poem Song of the Soul by Kahlil Gibran, an overture that would not be out of place in Aaron Copland‘s repertoire, and an entire adaptation of “American String Quartet No.12”, by composer Antonín Dvořák. What do we think about this seven-track album? Read on, and find out.
The first track in this delightful album, “Song of the Soul” is remarkably avant-garde. It is a spoken-word recitation of Kahlil Gibran’s poem of the same name. Word for word, many speakers (some male, some female, perhaps some others) recite the poem each at their own pace. This causes what sounds at times like a commotion, until the last word, “God,” stretches for the entire second half of the track, leading into “1. Overture”, the first motion out of four from Evergreen’s reworked “American Quartet No.12”.
“1. Overture” is very much a track that sounds like it could come from Oklahoma!, the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical about life in the “Sooner State” at the time of westward expansion. With the kinds of lively, upbeat brass measures that befit such a musical’s accompanying orchestra, this retooling of Antonín Dvořák’s famous chamber piece is remarkably effective at living up to both its name and its predecessor’s legacy.
“2. Dream” is the second part of four reworks of Dvořák’s chamber music, and, when compared with his second movement, “II. Lento”, is a deal more jazzy, which works quite nicely for Evergreen’s track. The measures are still there, but with a vital twist that keeps the piece invigorating enough to engage listeners. “2. Dream” also reintroduces vocals into the mix, with Evergreen having schewed them (and rightly so!) for “1. Overture”. However, the over 9-minute-long “2. Dream” does not introduce lyrics – that aspect will not be heard until “4. Drive”.
In the meantime, however, as we venture towards “3. Step”, itself a reworking of Dvořák’s movement “III. Molto Vivace”, we get a taste of some delightful guitar picking technique which makes Evergreen’s rendition of the song considerably more palatable to the modern sensibility when compared with Dvořák. The shortest track on Delicious Vignettes Of Recent American Kind, “3. Step” is a pleasant segue into “4. Drive”, but is wonderful on its own as well.
The final reworked movement of “American Quartet No. 12”, “4. Drive” is as lively as, if not even livelier than, “1. Overture”. Listeners can initially hear tones of banjos and other strings, as one might expect of an Americana piece. After the intro, we are blessed with some truly American-feeling lyrics, which make references to famed, doomed railroad engineer Casey Jones among others. At this time, we get an end to the Dvořák section of the album, but we still have two remaining tracks to feast our ears upon.
“Meteors” is a beautiful track, with lyrics that speak of friends and adventures, written by Evergreen’s close friend Lizzie Karr about Evergreen’s 21st birthday. There’s something very serene about this track, from its transcendental harmonies to its peaceful picking. It’s a really powerful track, and for something that to others could be seen as so insignificant, it gives a world of meaning to the idea of what really is a once-in-a-lifetime happenstance.
“Woodstock”, the last track on Delicious Vignettes, begins with a brief percussive intro that leads quickly into vocals that detail the three-day Woodstock concert of August 1969. Lyrical lines such as “We are stardust / We are golden” resonate as they repeat in this eleven-plus-minute track before the brass section becomes an entire cacophony alongside the rhythm section (this is only a good thing, though!). The lyrics seem to imply a collective addling of senses as a psychedelic journey proceeds to be detailed. Note that while this track stops rather abruptly at six or so minutes in, keep listening! There is more at the last minute.
Delicious Vignettes Of Recent American Kind is as much a journey as an album. There is something especially poignant about the addition of its first and final tracks to this album, and Evergreen ought to be remarkably proud of this art she has crafted. It is our hope that this art will inspire others to create as well, as much art is meant to do.
You can find Delicious Vignettes Of Recent American Kind on Spotify.
