Reviews > CDs

Bruce Hornsby and The Noisemakers : Bride of the Noisemakers

429

Initially, Bruce Hornsby and The Noisemakers kick in with such precision and perfection on this two-disc live set that it is easy to think the band has recorded and mixed the album in the studio bereft of an audience. But that is a high compliment, instead of snarky jest directed at the seasoned ivory tickler and his band of veteran musicians. What Bride of the Noisemakers —a compilation of performances recorded at various gigs from 2007 through 2009—documents quite well is the fact that the band can gracefully jump into a song, tether the melody to its original template and then fly off in another exuberant direction. Hornsby’s ability to move a song with either a soft touch or percussive force on the piano is also breathtaking here. On tracks like “Talk of the Town/Charlie, Woody, N’ You” and “Fortunate Son/Comfortably Numb,” the Noisemakers blend inspired melody with improvisational moments filled with hope and promise. Elsewhere, on “Country Doctor,” “Tango King” and “Cartoons & Candy,” the entire band rolls along with majestic power and a sense of purpose, while Hornsby brings it all back home with a fine cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Standing on the Moon.”