1. I Believe

(3:21) free jazz (Robert Priest/Kevin Breit/Alison Young/Great Bob Scott/George Koller)

Robert Priest began writing poetry in his teenage years as a love poet, so it’s fitting that the album kicks off with a track from that tradition. The mics had only just been set up, and what followed was supposed to be a full band sound check, but Priest got inspired and began to recite, not knowing the record button had been pressed. He and the band collectively and unknowingly composed I Believe. This was the beginning of a great day of music.

 

2. People Like You and Me

(5:38) modern cowboy jazz (Robert Priest/Kevin Breit)

The title track of the album, underscored by the great guitarist Kevin Breit’s composition (Norah Jones/Cassandra Wilson), creates a reflective and loving landscape. Priest is not a fan of the "great man theory" of history. He knows true power comes from the collective actions of whole populaces. This poem does its best to celebrate and revel in that fact. Once again, the unreeling of the vocal within the musical milieu takes on a life of its own so that as the band settled into high gear, Priest, as befits his name, declaims away in what can only be called secular preacher style.

 

3. When We Make Love

(2:29), modern strings, cinematic soundtrack (Robert Priest/Drew Jurecka)

An erotic history poem, the music for “When We Make Love” was composed, produced, and played by Grammy-nominated string arranger and multi-instrumentalist Drew Jurecka.  The poem asks the question: without coitus, where would we be? In answer, it celebrates the ancient improvisatory ritual solace and good fun of fucking and all that comes to pass because of it. For radio play potential, Jaymz and Priest tried to get the word fuck out of the poem, but it just wouldn't work without it. It's kind of like human civilization in that way. Where would we be without fuck energy?

 

4. Apple

(2:07) modern jazz, uptempo (Robert Priest/Alison Young)

Literally about an apple, this poem comes from a long tradition of odes to objects pioneered by poets like Pablo Neruda and DH Lawrence.  Priest hadn't even previewed the music that Alison Young had created to back the track, but was immediately entranced and enticed when she finally brought her composition to the fruit bowl. He quickly found a place for his vocal in the groove that felt like home. Along with every other piece on the album, this track is one of Priest's favorites.

 

5. On Star Divination

(1:18) abstract soundtrack (Robert Priest/Allen Booth)

When Priest writes in the traditional form known as a sonnet, he goes all out, including the five-beat iambic pentameter line and the familiar Shakespearean rhyming scheme. It's a good challenge, and he has always loved successful sonnets. This one imagines a culture of stars who look down on us the same way we look up to them to prefigure our astrological destinies. Though he tends to avoid all aspects of awards culture, Priest confesses he was a little chuffed when its publication received the nod for a national magazine award nomination. Now it finds a home in its own musical universe. 

 

6. Outer Peace (2:22)

dub reggae, spoken word (Robert Priest/Robert G. Scott)

Pithy, deep, inspiring, and sometimes even hilarious Robert Priest wastes no time serving up a smorgasbord of micro poems in this spacey reggae groove by composer Robert G. Scott (Micheal Bublé).

 

7. Between a Tender and a Tender Place

(1:41) jazzy rock ballad (Robert Priest/Allen Booth)

One sonnet is not enough, so once again, the singer in Priest gets engaged in the ambience of co-writer Allen Booth's music and finds his way into a delivery totally suited to the poem’s erotic content. Reciting it he got about as blushing as he ever gets with, let's call it, sexually-oriented material.

 

8. The Great Canadian Oath of Silence

(2:25) drone jazz (Robert Priest/George Koller)

Given the animation of the preceding tracks, the presence here of George Koller's bass drone is particularly apt. A sarcastic, bitter poem about Canada's treatment of its native people, The Great Canadian Oath of Silence is not a work where any suggestion of frivolity or insincerity would be appropriate. As well as the poem works, a cappella, in a literary milieu, the chastening drone of George's bass gives it an even greater authority and gravity.

 

9. Progression of Buts

(2:51) funky jazz (Robert Priest/Kevin Breit)

Within the well-worn track of call and response that jazz has made one of its signature moves, Robert is always on the lookout for new ways to activate and involve the audience. The momentum that Kevin Breit’s cutting guitar gives this “but” poem perfectly supplies that. To supply it with even more punch Robert marched in later and added some brutalist trumpet left over from his drum and bugle corps days.

 

10. Many Gendered Thing

(0:09) a capella (Robert Priest)

Totally eponymous, man. 

 

11. Thought Inventory

(3:16) free jazz (Robert Priest/Kevin Breit/Alison Young/Great Bob Scott/George Koller)

Improvised on the spot with the band, this is an in-the-moment diary of the kinds of thoughts that regularly run through people’s brains. It is illuminating to hear his voice's increasing sense of urgency as the ensemble dynamically reaches its peak and subsides.

 

12. You and I and Faraway

(6:56) late-night modern jazz,  vocal ballad, adult contemporary (Robert Priest/Allen Booth)

To close out the record, Priest sings an outright torchy jazz song. Composed by long-time co-writer Allen Booth, it is a heartfelt ballad featuring Alison Young’s sexy saxophone. Fans of Priest's music from the late 80s will love this Brian Ferry-esque performance, showcasing his raw authentic singing style.