Al Basile - At Home Next Door (2012)

At Home Next Door is a double CD set: the first CD, At Home With the Blues, looks back over Al Basile's 14 year catalogue with Sweetspot and focuses on his blues songs; the second, Next Door to the Blues, is a brand new collection of songs that use the blues as a foundation but build into other forms, with a focus on a 60s Memphis soul and gospel sound. The common denominator through both discs is Duke Robillard as producer and guitarist, and Al Basile as singer, songwriter, and cornetist, but former Roomful of Blues bandmates abound, along with guests ranging from harmonica aces Jerry Portnoy and Sugar Ray Norcia to jazz great Scott Hamilton. Basile's songwriting has consistently been praised as powerful, broad-ranging, and intelligent – he lives up to his nickname as “Bard of the Blues,” and the publication this year of A Lit House (Winnikinni Press, 2012), a 35 year retrospective of his poetry, confirms that he is a master of words in forms with or without music. Starting out as a novelist and playwright, he has concentrated his vision into songs and poems which use memorable characters to tell compelling stories, often with an implied moral lesson. His 40 year professional relationship with Robillard has ensured that the musical side of his work has always been world class and stylistically true across the landscape of his influences from blues through R&B, soul, gospel, and swing, and he received his second BMA nomination in 2012 as best horn player. His releases reliably rise into the top 15 in the Living Blues radio chart.
The first CD in At Home Next Door shows how comfortable and inventive Basile has always been with the blues, how consistent his records have been, and how all of his songs are built for the long haul – they refuse to date. The second CD shows the unique blend of his influences in a group of songs both familiar-sounding and utterly unlike anyone else's. They are immediately welcoming and accessible – and the closer you listen, the more you'll find in them. Instant classics.