Over the Rhine

The Trumpet Child

The Trumpet Child
Great Speckled Dog 2007

SJANGER ♦ folk-jazz/americana/pop/singer-songwriter

Over the Rhine, Live (in various settings): «Trouble», «Desperate for Love», «Nothing Is Innocent», «The Trumpet Child», «I'm On A Roll» and «Who´m I Kiddin´ But Me» live videos, as well as the animated video for «Desperate for Love», as featured on YouTube

For nearly twenty years Over The Rhine have graced the independent and major label music world with music that is lyrically eloquent, compositionally intriguing and aesthetically enchanting. The band return with their 10th studio album and career-best, a collaboration with ultra-talented Nashville producer/arranger Brad Jones (Matthew Sweet, Josh Rouse, Ron Sexsmith, Richard Julian et al). The Trumpet Child celebrates American music in the most richly imaginative ways...with jazz flavored songs celebrating wonder, grace and beauty.

Over the Rhine's Linford Detweiler wrote an interesting piece for Paste Magazine about the genesis of The Trumpet Child.

"Med programerklæringen "I don't wanna waste your time with music you don't need", innledes det tiende studioalbumet til duoen Over The Rhine, The Trumpet Child. Og når albumet toner ut med fenomenale, absurde «If A Song Could Be President», om et USA der Neil Young er senator (sjøl om han kom fra Canada...), Emmylou Harris ambassadør (verdens ledere vil høre på henne), John Prine FBI-sjef og Steve Earle nyhetsanker på tv (!), er det bare å innse at vi sitter med albumet vi ikke visste at vi elsket. Her møtes gode tekster, oppfinnsomme og lekne arrangementer og en strøken produksjon og miks (Brad Jones) i et levende, countryinfisert kabaret-pop-landskap." 5/6 [Dagbladet]

"Spennende og særdeles vellydende popmusikk...Over the Rhine har hentet mye inspirasjon fra Tom Waits, noe de også tar helt ut i den fabelaktige glimt-i-øyet-hyllesten «Don't Wait for Tom». Detweilers rustne røst kunne like gjerne kommet fra gamle Tom sjøl, men det er først og fremst ektefellens sjelfulle stemme som preger de tvers gjennom solide låtene. Tekstene er også i en klasse for seg på en virkelig godbit av en plate. Velegnet som musikalsk lys i høstmørket, dette her!" 5/6 [Romerikes Blad]

"Stilen kan glimtvis minne om en nyvasket og striglet utgave av Tom Waits...Det kan høres misforstått ut å fjerne grumset fra Waits' stil, men på sett og vis slipper de unna med det. Men heldigvis har de flere ben å stå på, som tilbakelent nattklubbjazz av ypperste merke - bare hør tittelkuttet - og folkpreget country som i avslutningskuttet «If a song could be president». Mye av duoens styrke er at de takler alt like godt. En fascinerende vakker plate i all sin enkelthet." 5/6 [Stavanger Aftenblad]

"En herlig blanding av bossnova-jazz og alternativ country og rock...alltid med en funklende vakker melodi i bånn." [Vårt Land]

"The Trumpet Child lever i eit sonisk landskap ikkje så heilt ulikt det damer som Norah Jones og Katie Melua tar seg fram i. Men spør du underteikna ja så opplever eg at Over the Rhine går litt djupare enn desse, samstundes som dei tar seg fram med ein frodigare bris i ryggen... Karin Bergquist er utstyrt med denne forsiktig håse, sterkt sensuelle og myndige røysta som evnar å gjere ein song til eit personleg vitnesbyrd. Laust og ledig men med stor kontroll leiar ho songane langs ein om ikkje akkurat flomlyst så heller ikkje mørklagt veg. Og bakom henne sitt han Detweiler og trillar fram jazzige tema frå eit piano, Brad Jones har basskontroll med kontrabassen og Mickey Grimm spelar meir enn slår på trommene. Ein innhyra Jim Hoke smyg innom med varme tonar frå ein saksofon eller ein klarinett, og Tony Paoletta fargar nokre krokar med tonar frå ein steel-gitar...The Trumpet Child grev seg kanskje ikkje like djupt inn i sjel og sinn som det Ohio med tida har klart, men den får sinnet til å danse. Med raffinerte og stødige steg." [groove.no]

"A wonderfully concise American music sampler... The Trumpet Child is an extremely satisfying listen." 4/5 [Paste Magazine]

"These eleven songs are swanky, jazzy, and generally calibrated to conjure a pre-1950s late night, cocktail-swilling feel, without sacrificing nuances of lyric. It's a paean to enduring American songcraft." [No Depression]

"All-American tour...With help from producer and multi-instrumentalist Brad Jones they've turned this into a survey of American roots music, from swamp-blues and jugband to soul and gospel (opening track «I Don't Wanna Wast Your Time» is like the Eagles' «Desperado» played by a New Orleans street band). Their fail-safe device is Bergquist's voice, a lush instrument redolent of nightclubs, roadhouses and Mississippi riverboats. She's at her best on the title song, a dramatic elegy to America's jazz legends." 4/5 [Uncut]

"Produced by Brad Jones and recorded in Nashville, the album's music is steeped in the other kind of Americana: not the gothic country one that gave listeners the Cowboy Junkies, Steve Earle, latter-day Emmylou Harris, or the imagined planes of Daniel Lanois' world, but the one that bred Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Randy Newman, Jack Teagarden, Rickie Lee Jones, Maria Muldaur, and Tom Waits. There are horns (trumpets and valve trombones as well as saxophones), strings, electric and acoustic pianos and guitars, bass harmonicas, brushed drums, hand percussion, and upright bass. No real jazz or blues are here, but there is a kind of dimly lit gauzy theater version of them framed in the language of white, literate, neo-hipster speakeasy soul that is inspired by cabaret singers from a bygone era, the desperate good-time mythology of old New Orleans' spirit, and a suave decadent intelligence that can crib imagery from Nina Simone and Waits in its own trademark way...Musically sophisticated it flows, swoops, hovers, and glides inside the listener. It offers enough of the band's own identity for long-term fans to feel comfortable, and enough musical diversity, surprise, and genuine inspiration to attract new ones." [AMG]

"Over the Rhine has always had a deep affinity for all American musical styles and with The Trumpet Child's expansive, simple and exquisite arrangements and top-of-their-game songwriting, they prove that they are not merely interpreters of the great American songbook but a fascinating chapter unto themselves." [CityBeat]

"The Trumpet Child is a great record, one that will be in heavy rotation in tastefully appointed bungalows all over the place for years to come." 8/10 [Pop Matters]

"Is it jazz? Is it folk? Whatever you call it, it's good...the soothing voice, the jazz/folk sounds, and the intense, sometimes spiritual lyrics of Over the Rhine have created an album that is deep, versatile, and ambitious. Bergquist and Detweiler should know that we do need this music and it is definitely not a waste of time listening to it all day." [theredalert.com]

"From the flirty «Trouble» and «I'm On a Roll» to the guarded optimism in «Who'm I Kiddin' But Me» and «Entertaining Thoughts» - the happy-go-lucky batch of songs burns its own path and never gets lost. The songwriting of Linford Detweiler is smart, the vocals of Bergquist sexy and smoky, creating a sometimes jazzy feel that has a simple agenda - to have fun." 4/5 [Glide Magazine]

"There is a forlorn streak underlying much of their work. Comparisons range from Cowboy Junkies to 10.000 Maniacs to Lisa Germano, and these are all close. I'd add Mazzy Star to the list, as well...most of the band's work is typically described as having a literary bent - influences: T.S. Eliot; Dylan Thomas - and being suffused with a distinct melancholy and unrequited longing; Berquist's voice has been associated with Billie Holiday's. Their sound is cabaret-jazz, but with a clear blues and less obvious roots influence... every song on The Trumpet Child simply works, and works on you to great effect. Note particularly the cool jazz «Let's Spend the Day in Bed», the wily «Entertaining Thoughts» and the teasingly seductive «Trouble»." [cdreviews.com]

"Over the Rhine has easily outdone themselves yet again - which is no surprise - and proven to us all once more why they recently found themselves on Paste Magazine's Top 100 living songwriters list. The energy, passion, and grace of The Trumpet Child reveal Over the Rhine at their and will both hold the hearts of long-time fans and grab the devotion of many new fans." A [themilkcarton.com]

"This whole project reeks of quality - songwriting, performance and production." [Americana UK]

"The Trumpet Child is the best record of Over the Rhine's career, and I'm happy to go on record saying as much. After my first few listens, what I find most striking is the sense of Friday-at-5pm bliss, the sleeves-up fun of friends hanging out and playing just one more tune... (Seriously this time, last one.)" [Jason Killingsworth, Music Editor, Paste Magazine]