David Greenberger & The Waldameer Players | Today!
(Pel Pel Recordings)
Today!, Capital Region writer and spoken-word artist David Greenberger’s recent CD with the Waldameer Players, has 40 short tracks featuring all manner of strings, woodwinds, percussion, and more unusual instruments like jaw harp, glockenspiel, and sitar. Conceived with the recently deceased percussionist Michael Evans, the text is based on Greenberger’s conversations with seniors at nursing homes throughout the US. Beefheart-ian titles such as “Tropical Hotdog Night” or “Dinosaurs and Their Problems” are multilayered compositions employing a wide sonic palette. Complex yarns dispense venerable wisdom or speak of vampires revealing unusual editorial choices and recurring fears of the elderly. Though the songs often contain harmonies and intriguing musical compositions, there is no vocal melody. It’s almost as if Studs Terkel were backed by a Tom Waits-ian junkyard orchestra, reading someone else’s memoirs, or what Greenberger calls, “a band with a guy talking.” Recommended for adventurous listeners.
This article appears in February 2023.
