Paul Simon
The Rhythm Of The Saints

I have not yet absorbed Simon's latest album, "Surprise," released in 2006, which, surprisingly, it's fair to say, shows us a tired songwriter (despite lyrics still above average) eager to flirt with electronics, with the help of that sprite Brian Eno. But something on that record didn't work. The cohesion between the two musicians did not bring the expected results, with Simon going one way and Eno the other. A missed opportunity for both, awaiting Simon's next move.

So, nostalgia took over and inevitably I went back to listen to Simon's last good album, which unfortunately dates back to 1990, the year in which "The Rhythm Of The Saints" was released.

Simon was coming off that Grammy-winning masterpiece "Graceland," an album that exquisitely mixed American music with African music, creating small gems like "The Boy In The Bubble," "Graceland," "You Can Call Me Al"... A small masterpiece of world music, which Simon intended to replicate four years later with the release of an album of the same quality.

If Graceland was inspired by African sounds, this time Simon moved to South America and Brazil, recording much of the songs with local musicians. The result is an album full of nuances and colors, rich with sounds and musicians. Even though overall and qualitatively the songs are a step below those of Graceland, this album elevates Simon on the pedestal of world music. The opening track, "The Obvious Child", with its percussion played by Grupo Cultural OLODUM, provides the right charge and opening for the album. One of Simon's best songs.

The rest of the album maintains a lower pace compared to the energetic opening. The fluid and sensual "Can't Run But" features J.J. Cale (also present in the evocative "Born At The Right Time") on guitars, while "Spirit Voices", written with Milton Nascimento, transports us directly to the Amazon forests amid bongos and congas. Also in this album, the arrangements are to be appreciated for being able to blend wind instruments and percussion with traditional rock instruments like guitars and bass. A great example is the splendid "She Moves On" with the horns of Michael and Randy Brecker that weave among the percussion without being intrusive.

The album would be followed by a successful tour and a free concert in Central Park, ten years after the famous concert with Garfunkel. This time Simon appears without his partner but with a band of almost twenty members, alternating old hits with the new world sounds. The audience is huge, estimated at around seven hundred thousand people...

Unfortunately, this remains the last spark from the little songwriter from New Jersey, then there would be the marriage with Edie Brickell and... but that's just gossip.