Robbie Basho: Bouquet
Lost Lagoon Records
In a most welcome exhumation, Bouquet, Robbie Basho's thirteenth album, returns in an expanded and remastered form after first appearing almost forty years ago on cassette. Available for the first time on vinyl and CD and released with the full approval of Basho's estate, this remarkable statement from the legendary guitarist has never sounded fresher. Bolstering its appeal is a twenty-four-page booklet containing lyrics and images, plus commentaries by Glenn Jones, Henry Kaiser, Robbie Dawson, and others that shed fascinating light on the project and its visionary creator. Jones's contribution is particularly interesting for the candour of his assessment (one set of lyrics, for example, is deemed “too mawkish”).
Of course Basho's forever associated with Takoma Records and is an ongoing inspiration for his steel-string acoustic guitar playing. Bouquet is less about audacious fretwork, however, than ecstatic celebrations with Basho's declamatory vocalizing at the forefront (issued in 1983 three years before his death, it would turn out to be his last vocal album). The fourteen pieces—the original eleven plus extras—honour diverse spiritual traditions and literally are, as per the album subtitle, Basho's “song offerings.”
He sings with an unguarded, open-hearted sincerity, his clarion, vibrato-rich voice soaring through devotional outpourings such as “The Golden Medallion,” “Tears of Teresa,” “Khalil Gibran,” and “Omar Khayaam Country,” each one buoyed by his always dazzling picking. The original version of “The White Swallow” backs an entrancing poem reading by Patricia Fearey with his wordless singing and guitar before he takes the spotlight with a sung verse; the reissue's alternate take features wordless vocalizing and guitar only.
Whereas the original “Land of Our Fathers” is a concise song-length version featuring singing by Basho and the Consortium Choir, the reissue includes an extravagant thirteen-minute treatment that pairs vocals and a spoken word passage with rolling waves of piano. Only two instrumentals appear on the release, “The Polish Rider” an excellent sampling of Basho's deft fingerpicking and “The White Princess” a pretty solo piano reverie.
The reissue's producer Liam Barker describes Bouquet as “a divisive work among fans” for presenting Basho as more troubadour than long-form instrumentalist, something convincingly borne out by “The Song of Leila,” to cite one example. Be that as it may, it strikes these ears as an immensely appealing expression. He sings with such passion and conviction, it's impossible to not be swept up by the elemental force of the performances. Jones concludes his text with the following: “Affording us a greater insight into his remarkable vision, Bouquet is a critical piece of the puzzle that was Robbie Basho.” And how wondrous that piece is.October 2022