JONATHAN WILSON "FANFARE"

Fanfare was made in Los Angeles over a 9-month period. “There were a few weeks of sessions with the band tracking live, as well as many weeks with just myself and engineer Bryce Gonzales. There were many weeks at a time of just me working alone, as I did with Gentle Spirit. I’ve always worked alone in some capacity since I first started recording, it’s a very important part of the process for me.”Produced by Wilson at his Fivestar Studios in Echo Park, Fanfare was recorded to 2″ analog tape and then mixed down to 1/2 inch tape at Jackson’s Browne’s Groove Masters studio in Santa Monica through a Neve 8078 analog console. The “next generation hi-fi” attention to the smallest sonic details is the kind you might expect from a consummate craftsman/perfectionist that Wilson is.“Analog simply captures things better and it takes the edges off. It creates a beauty much like film,” Wilson says. “Fanfare is a vehicle to explore fully blown out analog production, from the strings to the hi-fi cymbal sounds. The recording used a live echo chamber extensively. ”Featuring vocal and instrumental contributions from heavy friends like Graham Nash, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Josh Tillman (aka Father John Misty), Wilco’s Patrick Sansone, Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith and Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench from Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, the album is a celebration of friends and family. Additionally, Wilson and British folk legend Roy Harper co-wrote several songs on the record.Sometimes Wilson seems to need a pinch to believe his good fortune: “There are an awful lot of wizards on this album. Wizards of all ages and life experiences. All these amazing voices and musicians. There is a high degree of musical prowess and pedigree here. Cross-generational musical sharing and passing down traditions is very important to me and something that must continue. This is the way you keep the Fanfare’s blowing, this is how you keep the energies interacting.”In “Lovestrong,” one of the last songs on the record, Wilson sings, “Just a while ago and up the road a piece, a Fanfare when you are born, a ballad when you are released. All the while these were the lyrics that you sang, every lifetime plays the song of every living thing.” And so it goes… JONATHAN WILSON