A Review of the CD
"Calling On Love"
by Paul Kamm & Eleanore MacDonald

This review is written by Kevin McCarthy, 11/99
"Kevin and Maxine’s Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews"
http://www.icogitate.com/~celticfolkmusic/index.html
mailto:celticfolkmusic@icogitate.com

This is a release that takes its time, presenting songs laden with feeling and spirit that unfold at a deliberate pace. At times esoteric, at times straightforward and direct, it elaborates on the innumerable pathways of the human journey--from scaling the exalted peaks to wearily tramping through the sunken valleys, from the futile pursuit of life's fool's gold to the blessed wonder of serendipitous stardust.

"Calling On Love," the opening cut, is an emotional plea for the good in this world to triumph. As Kamm says in the liner notes:

"A prayer, small though it might be,
that the better part of humanity may
finally eclipse the dark face of fear..."

"Last Tango In Paradise" spotlights some of the concerns of many in the 1990s--the effects on human life of unrelenting city sprawl, and congestion. Aided again by Dave Smith on piano, Kamm sings:

"They used to have a good thing here
now the rent's too high and the air
ain't clear anymore
in the garden of Eden
The city's pushing further out
with shopping malls and
suburban clout like a sore
that won't stop bleeding
The melting pot's filled with fire and ice
looks like we're dancing the
Last Tango in Paradise..."

"...The old men in the square don't wonder why
the Interstate goes west, and right on by
picture walls show better days
but people keep living anyway
that's just the way it goes night after night."

"Come darkness spin my coat
with shadows and pale blue smoke
and places that no one goes
far away come sit by me

Now out on the endless road
from town to town you go
a drink for a siren's note
a fair exchange the way that I see

Are you like the wind a gypsy king
a stranger in the night
will you look forever trying to find
the queen of northern lights

In snow fields that scrape the sky
in the shimmer of city lights
you shadow me day and night
a fair exchange the way that I see

Come darkness spin my coat
with echoes of pale blue notes
a loon from a drifting boat
far away come sit by me."

Kamm on guitar and vocals and MacDonald on vocals are abetted by the aforementioned Alasdair Fraser on violin and viola; the aforementioned Dave Smith on piano; Rich Stanmyre on bass; Mikail Graham on fretless bass, guitar, keyboards, atmospherics and rhythmic bits.

Track List:

• Calling On Love (4:14)
• From Clare To Here (5:28) - Ralph McTell
• Last Tango In Paradise (4:42)
• Home (4:01)
• Broken Down On Easy Street (4:15)
• To Lay Me Down (6:24) - Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia
• The Great Highway (5:44)
• Chasing The Storm (6:32)
• The Queen Of Northern Lights (4:31)

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