Jack Rose's solo albums are getting less and less cohesive, but he is such an amazing guitar player, that this limitation is hardly a detriment. You knew what type of music you'd be getting on Red Horse, White Mule (Fahey) and Opium Musick (more of an Asian influence), but Kensington Blues is hardly about the blues. Its name is merely the title of the opening track - a three and a half minute burst of full beauty. When I first heard the song on his Peel Session in 2004, my jaw dropped wide open over how gorgeous the melody was, and over a year later, this version sounds just as good, although more ore less the same.
The rest of the album mixes ragtime, ragas, and folk - hitting all the styles you'd expect from Rose on the same album, save the more abstract/ambient pieces which are in full bloom on the new Pelt album. The ragtime songs are the most strictly traditional and the least interesting. I never got into Rose's CDR under the name "Dr. Ragtime," and the two ragtime tracks on Kensington Blues are exactly the same style. In fact, "Flirtin' With the Undertaker" is on both releases, but the version on this album is a lot more spirited and joyful. The songs, at least, are naturally short, and are adequate segways between longer pieces.
The album also includes another take on "Now That I'm a Man Full Grown," released earlier this year on the By the Fruits... 3-LP compilation. Both versions let Rose show off his slide technique, but the versions are adequately different, the By the Fruits... version being a lot more delicate and this version being a bit denser and darker, the heightened pace at the end packing a lot more punch. I prefer the first version but both are great.
"Sunflower River Blues" is also a re-recording, but this time a cover of Fahey's classic. The song has a great melody, and it shows how closely Rose is working to the blueprint on songs like the great opener "Kensington Blues." However, Rose's originals far outshine the cover, as Rose lets his other influences flavor the sound. From the title, "Cross the North Fork" sounds like it'd be another take on American traditional, but Rose's brings out a very Asian/sitar sound, marrying Western folk with the Indian raga - the dense, fast picking evoking a dreamy cloud of pipe smoke.
The tempo of Rose's playing doesn't slow down on "Calais to Dover," but he is able to subdue the volume, turning the lightning fast picking from adrenaline boost to lulling and blissful. The soft, fast picking creates small melodies, hiding in the drone, waiting to burst free. The melodies eventually overtake the song, providing a darker, brooding tone that carries the album to its end.
