Trees In The Wind
Artist: Jeff Reynolds
Label: Elijah's Ride Music/7th Time Records
Length: 11 tracks/61:22
A collection of songs written specifically for the Vineyard church
he pastors in Oregon, Jeff Reynold's second album of worship material is
accompanied by a press release which lists among his influences Bruce Cockburn,
John Michael Talbot, Kevin Prosch, and T-Bone Burnett. Raynold's vocals
do bear something of a resemblance to Cockburn's, although the fact that
these songs are designed for corporate use means that he generally uses
it in a different way.
The music is mainly acoustic guitar-driven, with a range of other
instruments, especially electric guitar, added to develop the energy of
the recordings. The sound is cohesive and well-produced, the acoustic guitar
is played with finesse--there's some nice picking to be found if you dig
through the arrangements--and the overall feel is warm and earthy. There
is a slight similarity to Kevin Prosch, but I find this to be better focussed
than some of Prosch's work.
The songs were written between 1990 and 1995 (Reynold's schedule
meant that this project was a labour of love to complete), but given the
musical style there is no need to worry about it sounding dated. When an
artist lists T-Bone Burnett and Bruce Cockburn as influences you might
well expect a finely tuned lyricist, but unfortunately those offered here
do not measure up to those particular writers' work, even if they are in
the upper quartile of current worship songwriting. There are a range of
moods evoked, with a selection of different aspects of God's character
being portrayed in a more balanced way than is sometimes the case in modern
worship.
I don't think that I will find myself coming back to this album
much when looking for lyrics for personal enjoyment, but when looking for
some balanced worship or in need of some new songs for the church I may
well return. If worship music is what you want and you like your music
earthy, this may be worth investigating.
By James Stewart 10/4/98)
