Jeff Larson - The World Over (2012)

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Jeff Larson - The World Over (2012)

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The Northern California singer/songwriter/guitarist delivers one of his finest albums with "The World Over." Jeff Larson's earnest vocals and unwaveringly engaging folk-rock-country songs have an alluring, early Eagles feel. Appropriately, among those contributing stirring harmonies is Jeddrah Schmit, daughter of Eagles bassist Timothy B. Schmit. Also complementing Larson's voice are the duo of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (America) and Jeffrey Foskett (Brian Wilson Band). Larson's warm, wonderful songs will grab you immediately and just get better with each subsequent listening. Every one of the 10 numbers here proves to be an individual gem.

~ Paul Freeman, mercurynews.com

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Imagine a virtual living room filled with ringing guitars, velvet-toned singing, and sure-handed playing as you experience the warm-grained musical journey that is Jeff Larson's The World Over. This set of ten original songs washes over you in melodic waves, pulsing with strong emotions and genuine feeling. There is a special quality to Larson's music that listeners can trust. Anyone seeking respite from the often jarring clamor of day-to-day life in the 21st century can find safe harbor throughout this album. With a painterly eye for detail, Larson tells stories with themes of searching and finding, losing and longing, capturing everyday life through a clear-eyed lens, journeying near and far, ultimately leading, from song to song, to wherever listeners call home. The music on The World Over is enriched by such top-flight vocalists as Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell of the band America, Jeddrah Schmit, the daughter of Eagles bassist/singer Timothy B. Schmit, and Jeffrey Foskett, music director and part of the Brian Wilson Band. The way Bunnell and Schmit, in particular, blend with Larson's crystal-clear vocals in shimmering harmony makes you smile and sway with the sound. Album co-producer Hank Linderman's stirring electric guitar lines span a kaleidoscope of sonic colors that arc across the landscape of Larson's songs. World music string-man extraordinaire Bob Brozman also brings unique instrumental elements to the mix that deepen certain textures that span genres and stretch into different cultures. Fluidly flowing from chiming acoustic ballads to Latino-laced folk to cantering pop-rockers, these songs weave together beautifully.

The World Over was produced by Larson and Linderman, with the exception of This Morning in Amsterdam, which was co-produced by Gerry Beckley, and part of I Like It Better Here: Music From Home, a 2010 compilation that also included tracks from Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and Jack Tempchin, among others. This Morning in Amsterdam, an atmospheric, dream-like song, was my first introduction to Larson and his music, and it is also featured on this album. What struck me then and I hear again now is a true sense of melody, awareness and insight. Larson is a musician who has that rare ability to transform life experiences into music that engages, intrigues and resonates. Tune into The World Over and it will transport you.

Dave Zimmer, author of Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Biography

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Jeff Larson may not be a superstar name, but he has an established career with at least 10 previous album releases since 1998. He’s deeply connected to a group of LA soft harmony-rock artists that include both members of ’70s popsters America (Dewey Bunnell and Gary Beckley), who continue as a touring force. The Eagles Timothy Schmit’s daughter Jedrah, studio ace Jeffrey Foskett also help on the disc, and Larson plays several types of guitars, harp, and keys. Topping off the slick project are contributions by Bob Brozman playing various exotic guitars and producer Hank Linderman, who has turned knobs for Eagles, among others.
The flawless gloss works on the ten original tunes primarily because Larson is both a top-notch singer and a writer who can flex to hit most of dots the California-harmony country rock genre map. Sure, this music sounds like its forebears and cousins, especially America, the Eagles, and lesser known bands like Venice. No problem, part of Larson’s charm is to come up with rewarding melodies within this comfortable, familiar palette.

“Your Way Back Home” breaks ground with perfect harmonies, an easy-going pace, and guitars that float on air. There is more of a message to “Approaching Midnight,” as Larson tells about meaning to write a distant partner, as the middle of a rainy night gives him time for reflection. The melody stands out, as does the arrangement, with Brozman’s National Steel slide licks giving things an added edge. The band pulls out the stops for “Midhaven Getaway”; it rocks, it’s catchy, and the layers of guitars complement the harmonies just right. “Monday Clouds Tuesday Rain” makes the America connection apparent, Larson’s pop tale of lost love opportunities as metaphor for stormy weather (a theme in several of the tracks here) sounds like it could have been the B-side to “Sister Golden Hair.”

The atmospheric “This Morning in Amsterdam” is the disc highlight, capturing an elusive, haunted vibe. A masterpiece of arrangement and execution, it transports the listener to a different musical and emotional locale, “Stepping in another world/ Nodding at the past/ The watchmen gaze and look away/ As if the die was cast”.

Brozman’s work with world music instruments help lift “Point of Rising,” with the pounding percussion, sliding notes high and low over exotic Eastern-influenced melodies and Larson warning of the ominous state of the “twisted world” and humanity, “You wake the Phoenix from the flames.” Whatever the message, musically this is yet another testimony to the genius of Ray Davies in 1965, recording the raga-inspired “See My Friends” with the Kinks; the music world has followed suit for nearly 50 years.

“In Time” is almost spellbindingly beautiful, a soft ballad over acoustic guitar, most of it Larson and Jedrah singing soaring harmonies, with Linderman weaving guitar figures in and out. It is another radio-ready, slam-dunk highlight.

The World Over has no weak tracks or filler and demonstrates Jeff Larson to be an artist to be reckoned with.

~ Frank Kocher, sandiegotroubadour.com

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Jeff Larson - The World Over (2012)

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Jeff Larson - The World Over (2012)

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