The field of solo folk guitar players has always been heavily populated, almost by definition, with eccentric characters and iconoclasts. Yet even among this crowd, guitarist Jack Rose stands out as a musician with some particularly unusual habits. Whether as a solo performer, in his former group Pelt, or with his numerous other collaborators, Rose resolutely keeps his own counsel, as his music progresses from dilated abstract drones to the most devoutly traditional folk-blues exercises. Unlike most artists, however, Rose does not necessarily use his records as a means to introduce listeners to his newest material, but rather as a sort of milepost to indicate where his latest paths have lead him.
As a result of this quirky recording philosophy, Rose has shown a tendency to return time and again to reinterpret the same material, whether it be his own compositions or such vintage staples as Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Ground)". Perhaps Rose attempts these revisions through a sense of perfectionism, but more often than not his investigations seem to simply derive from restless curiosity, as though his own songs were puzzles to be solved or knots he can't quite fully untie.
True to form, then, that in addition to a couple of new songs, Rose's latest album The Black Dirt Sessions contains several tracks that have appeared in other versions on previous records. The most notable of these is the epic "Cross the North Fork", a piece that Rose has recorded in three earlier variations. (Or maybe even more, since the Pelt track "Up the North Fork" from their 2003 release Pearls From the River seems to be at least a half-sibling.) And though this repetition might make one wish that Rose was more willing to branch out as a composer, his boundless expressive abilities help keep these pieces fresh and full of discovery.
On Rose's 2004 album Raag Manifestos, "Crossing the Great Waters" appeared as an energetic raga, and by 2005's Kensington Blues, it had morphed into the dense and exquisite "Cross the North Fork". Here the piece has become ever more drawn out and contemplative, like taking a leisurely stroll through an old, familiar neighborhood, with Rose taking care to savor every small detail. All of Rose's established influences are still in evidence-- stray elements of raga, ragtime, and the heavy echoes of the Takoma catalog-- but by this point they have been fully internalized, and Rose fills his playing with an easy, graceful authority.
At various points in his career, Rose's fondness for traditional forms has raised the temptation to dismiss him as a mere revivalist, and this was never more true than on last year's Dr. Ragtime and His Pals, a collection of roots-based material that may sound too conservative for fans of his more experimental work. Typically enough this criticism seems to have not concerned Rose in the slightest, and The Black Dirt Sessions includes three newly-altered versions of songs from Dr. Ragtime, and each seems a subtle improvement. On "Fishtown Flower" Rose goes for the full cowboy-saloon effect as he is joined by Hans Chew's jaunty ragtime piano, and on "Song for the Owl" he again displays his vibrant slide-playing skills.
One constant with Rose is that his albums have always been impeccably well-produced, and The Black Dirt Sessions is no exception. Recorded at Jason Meagher's Black Dirt Studio in Westtown, NY, the album ably captures every burr and spark from Rose's guitar and reliably rewards extended headphone play. Masterful though these performances are, however, with Rose one can never assume that these are intended to be definitive recordings, or whether he might not someday want to take yet another crack at these songs.
