Stone Gossard
Bayleaf

Everyone knows Stone Gossard. He's the guitarist of Pearl Jam. The one with the glasses.
A founder (among the founders) of the historic Seattle band, Gossard boasts, over the years, membership in various bands such as Green River, Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog. Since 1992 he's also been the guitarist for Brad, a Seattle band—obviously—with whom he has released three albums so far. The fourth, the elusive "Best Friends," is said to have been ready for years, but to this day it has never been released.

I've always liked Stone Gossard. He doesn't claim, real or imagined, Indian ancestry like Eddie Vedder, nor does he wear strange hats like Jeff Ament, nor has he attended detox clinics in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where extraordinary bassists meet—read John Baker Saunders—to form legendary supergroups that if you've never listened to them, you're missing out (Mad Season) like Mike McCready. Less flashy than his counterparts, Stone is simply a good guitarist. A cornerstone of Pearl Jam. Someone who knows how to do his dirty work well. 

"Backspacer", the ninth studio album by Pearl Jam, will be released by the end of the year. In September. The radio keeps playing the advertisement. But I don’t care at all. "Riot Act" is a mediocre album. The last one, the self-titled (when a band after fifteen years of career releases a self-titled album it means they're scraping the bottom of the barrel), I gladly skipped listening to it. Pearl Jam has tired me. But, as a youngster, bootleg tapes of "Ten", "No Code" and "Vitalogy" were constantly circulating among friends, and I played "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter in a Small Town" on guitar (everyone knows how to play this one). When in 2001 Gossard released "Bayleaf", his first and so far only solo album, I immediately went to buy it.

"Bayleaf" was produced by Stone Gossard himself in collaboration with his friend Pete Droge. It's a good little record. Packaged in a digipack, the beautiful artwork of the booklet-cover is the work of the guitarist himself, who from time to time likes to dabble with a brush and be a painter. The 10 (ten) songs, needless to say, are all by Gossard, who contributes vocals, guitars, piano, and percussion on the album. Of course, there's no shortage of guests. Starting with Pete Droge himself, who, besides working on the production, sings and plays guitar on the album. Then Mike Dillon, Matt Bayles (already worked with Pearl Jam on "Yield" and "Binaural", as well as a valuable partner over the years with Mastodon and Isis among others) who takes care of the recording and mixing of the album. On drums in two tracks ("Bore Me" and "Fits") is Matt Chamberlin, who was Pearl Jam's drummer for a few months back in 1991. A guy who isn’t afraid of anything. He has played with Christina Aguilera and David Bowie. Elisa and Sean Lennon. Shakira and Robbie Williams. Ty Wilman provides vocals on what are altogether the best moments of "Bayleaf": "Cadillac", "Fend It Off", the track that closes the album, especially "Unhand Me", a song that, along with the title track (sung by Gossard), represents the highlight of the entire work.

I listened to "Bayleaf" quite a bit before shelving it and consigning it among dust and shelves to posterity and future generations. I picked it up again last week, and I couldn't help but notice that eight years have passed, but this album has aged pretty well.
"Bayleaf" is an essential album for Pearl Jam fans and the most orthodox "grungers". Those who won't give up their flannel shirts even in summer. When it’s forty degrees in the shade. "When some six-foot-five lunatic with a bloodshot eye claws your neck and slams your only head against the wall of a bar asking if you've paid the bill." But it's an "electric" album that can also be enjoyable for those who, although appreciating the Seattle band's sound, have grown tired of listening to Eddie Vedder's vocals.

Stone Gossard isn't a genius. He's not an excellent guitarist. Nor an exceptional character. But he writes good songs. "Bayleaf," amidst its ups and downs, is yet another proof of it.