Masterpiece: Solid Air

[Today: The late, great John Martyn...]

Scottish musician John Martyn passed away yesterday in Kilkenny, Ireland at age 60. Between his 1968 debut London Conversation and 1977′s One World, he travelled the musical path from straight-ahead folk to echoplexed guitar workouts couched in a world music sensibility. His music incorporated elements of folk, funk, soul, blues, jazz and Celtic music, and all of these angles are captured beautifully on 1973′s Solid Air, an album pitched midway between the musician that Martyn was, and the musical explorer he would become.

From the album’s first notes, bassist Danny Thompson’s contribution to the overall atmosphere is obvious. He and Martyn play with a simpatico that borders on telepathy, lighting up a string of great tunes. ‘May You Never’ and ‘I Don’t Want To Know’ are the kind of lovely, lilting folk that got Martyn signed to Island Records as a teenager in the late 60′s. ‘Over The Hill’ is a dark sentiment wrapped in a sweet melody that will have you humming along before you realize what you’re humming about – in other words, quintessential Martyn. Meanwhile, his cover of Skip James’ ‘I’d Rather Be The Devil’ is a demented, echoplexed nightmare that heralds the course his music would take in the second half of the 70′s.

Martyn wrote the title track about his troubled friend Nick Drake, who would overdose on anti-depressants in November of 1974. It’s a gorgeous song that fulfills both sides of the thorny musical equation known as jazz-rock. Many reviewers have grappled with the metaphor behind the title of the album, but this is a body of work that eludes such critical grasping. With nine songs that clock in at a little under 35 minutes, Solid Air is a cool ocean breeze.

Listen: Over The Hill

Listen: Solid Air

Listen: May You Never

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Tags: Danny Thompson, John Martyn, Nick Drake, Skip James, Solid Air