Various Artists

Endless Highway: The Music of The Band

2007-01-24

It is worth noting the cast of musicians taking turns with these 17 memorable tunes marking the 30th anniversary of Martin Scorese’s film: The Last Waltz: Jack Johnson with Animal Liberation Orchestra, Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers, Death Cab For Cutie, Josh Turner, Lee Ann Womack, My Morning Jacket, Allman Brothers, Gomez, Jakob Dylan with Lizz Wright, Guster, Rosanne Cash, Jackie Greene, Steve Reynolds, Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler, The Roches, and Trevor Hall. The mix of players makes for a great blend of varying musical voices and styles that transport some of The Band’s best music like déjà vu with wings. And, oh, do you remember in Spaceballs when the huge Star Wars-like war cruiser dominating the opening scene just keeps going and going and going and going across the screen? Well, check out Widespread Panic doing Chest Fever. By the time they get out of the opening elongated keyboard stretch I’m sure you too will be ready to rock. And so much more auditory joy. This is, end to end, a great stand alone CD as well as a worthy companion to any recording by The Band itself, a mark of music that is truly classic as it transports listeners across generations. An early candidate as the best recording by various artists in next year’s Jammies. -- Mostly