Beautiful Isle Of Somewhere [Live]

About 2/3 of the songs here are on his two recent albums, Password and Secret Handshake. These live versions have similar feel to those two albums, and listeners who already have them may not feel the need to buy this one. Almost all the songs not on those albums are all on other G.M. compilations, though not always widely available. My advice is to buy this album for the sound of the solo arrangements.

Almost everything here is just beautiful (though I prefer Eric Clapton's version of Motherless Child). To me, "Gee baby, ain't I been good to you" and "Tennessee blues" are the most special cuts, because of their careful treatment here and because I hadn't heard them on his earlier discs.

The first is an old jazz tune (credited to Donald Matthew Redman & Andy Razaf). The lyrics express only love (mostly shown through expensive gifts), but the slow pace and strained tone are more telling than the words. The song's hook is in the thoughts left unsaid. Tennessee blues (Bobby Charles) is a warm feeling soft folk-sounding song about longing for someplace new. Like the rest of the album, the beauty of both these songs is in the careful and sensitive guitar and vocal performance. Absolutely beautiful.

Some other exceptional tracks are "The common cold" (called "Kitchen Door" on Password), "Wild ox moan" and "Just a little while to stay here" from Secret Handshake, all much like their arrangements on the studio albums. "I can't see your face" has an even more haunting sound played on guitar here than on piano (Secret Handshake).

Muldaur's writes a few originals (Got to Find Blind Lemon) but his real strength is to take an old song (blues, jazz, gospel, whatever) and carefully take it apart to find the emotional core, and then to put it back together, keeping its heart fully intact, but with new instrumentation and his own inimitable vocal. He is at his very best when he arranges and performs songs of subtle but deep lyric or musical soul. When he's done, the finished piece is like hand crafted furniture, worn smooth by years of use but sturdy as if it were brand new.

Muldaur might have summed up his recent work by covering "Drop down, mama" (Sleepy John Estes):
"Well I might look like I'm crazy, but I do know right from wrong."
It sounds right to me.