Over the Rhine

The Trumpet Child

(Great Speckled Dog)

Record Review by Janelle Finamore

Is it jazz? Is it folk? Whatever you call it, it’s good.  Over the Rhine has really outdone themselves this time and they don’t want to waste our time with bad tracks. In the opener of The Trumpet Child, Karin Bergquist croons, “I don’t want to waste your time with music you don’t need. Why should I autograph the book that you won’t even read?”  The piece opens with a brass and woodwind ensemble giving it more of the jazz sound than folk. Upon hearing this introduction, one would immediately know that it is worth listening to the whole album with an active ear.

The title track also has  jazz influences. It features piano, saxophone, and trumpet during a musical interlude.  Bergquist sings beautifully, “The rich forget about their gold/The meek and mild are strangely bold/A lion lies beside a lamb/and licks a murderer’s outstretched hand.” The married couple (Bergquist and Linford Detweiler) make quite an outstanding musical duo.  With two brilliant minds thinking together, it’s no wonder they create such literate poetic lyrics.

"Entertaining Thoughts" is more along the lines of a folk tune with its acoustic guitar riffs and percussive drums. The final song on the album "If A Song Could Be President" stays in the folk realm as well. Furthermore, the song repeats the catchy melody in a strophic form creating an imprint of sound in the listener’s mind.

"Who Am I Kiddin But Me" has more of a blues feel and is in the vein of a Joan Osborne tune. Brad Jones uses a swampy slide here while Detweiler pounds it out on a Wurlitzer Electric piano.  "Let's Spend The Day In Bed" mentions being “stoned on love” and creates an atmosphere of sleepiness using light electric piano riffs and a soft Hammond organ. Karin sings, “We’ll read Shel Silverstein/Where the Sidewalk Ends/smile about old friends.” The song makes you feel like you are actually in bed perhaps on a cold rainy day just reading in your pajamas, eating pie, and relaxing with your loved one.

"Don't Wait For Tom" is reminiscent of a Leonard Cohen song. Detweiler’s vocals are sung in a talk-sing way with a low voice. The song includes a tack piano which adds a light, jovial quality.  The lyrics, however, starkly contrast the lightness of the music. Detweiler writes, “He takes his coffee with the blood of a turnip/Blushes his cheeks with an Amsterdam tulip/Choppin’ up a rooster for a pullet surprise/If the gravy don’t getcha he’ll getcha with his eyes.”

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.