Bruce Hornsby and his range
Bruce Hornsby has a dizzying array of musical styles in his repertoire, and he's more than casually acquainted with each.
He's most recognized as a pop musician, the author of megahit "The Way It Is," which was the title track on the album that scored Bruce Hornsby and the Range the best new artist Grammy in 1987.
Then there's bluegrass: His re-recording of "The Valley Road" with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band won the best bluegrass recording in 1990.
At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, he teamed with jazz icon Branford Marsalis to play "Barcelona Mona."
The full breadth of Hornsby's musical offerings will be available upon request Friday, May 8, at American Music Theater, when Hornsby pulls into town for a solo acoustic show.
"If people wonder what the solo concert is like, I take requests from the audience," Hornsby said in a recent telephone interview from his studio in Williamsburg, Va. "It's an adventurous night out. ... It's a very free mode of expression because it's just me, and I can go anywhere I want to."
Of course, there are always those requests. Hornsby calls them "goofy": shout-outs for "Shake Your Booty" by KC & the Sunshine Band and - what Hornsby refers to as "the ultimate tired request" - "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
"People think they are being hilarious when they yell that out, and they don't understand that they couldn't be more boring," he said.
Hornsby fans can dig up requests from 13 studio albums and dozens of collaborations with heralded musicians including Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt and even the late Tupac Shakur. Deadheads can pull from Hornsby's stint as the Grateful Dead pianist from 1990 to 1992.
His two most recent releases are a collection of bluegrass covers and originals he recorded with Rick Skaggs ("Ricky Scaggs & Bruce Hornsby") and a jazz trio recording with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bass player Christian McBride ("Camp Meeting").
"The most interesting requests for me are requests from people who are really well-versed in what I do," Hornsby said. "They will know to request part of the Samuel Barber piano sonata or some Charles Ives music."
In addition to honoring requests, Hornsby likely will play a selection of tracks from the upcoming Hornsby & the Noisemakers (his band of several years) album "Levitate," due out this fall. The title track betrays Hornsby's love of hoops and will be featured in the Spike Lee documentary "Kobe Doin' Work."
The film takes a look at NBA star Kobe Bryant as a man and a player as it follows him through the 2008 NBA playoffs.
The film debuted this year at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and is slated to air May 16 on ESPN. Hornsby, who scored the film, was on hand for the April 25 premiere.
This seems to be the year of film for Hornsby, who will make his first appearance on the silver screen playing himself in "World's Greatest Dad," an arthouse comedy featuring Robin Williams due out this summer. The film uses a lot of his music.
But the studio is where Hornsby belongs. He has much to say about the state of the recording industry and how it has changed during his career, which spans more than a quarter-century. As a father of twin 17-year-old boys, Hornsby is familiar with the MySpace and iTunes culture and how new consumers approach music.
"The playing field has changed. ... (There is a) lack of depth of interest in music," Hornsby said. "Most of these kids, their interest is song by song. ... The music business apparatus is not set up to make 15-year-olds find out about 50-year-olds. It never was; it never will be."
But Hornsby doesn't seem to be hurting for young fans. Diversity will do that for you.
"It's surprising how many young people come to our shows, whether it's my solo concerts or Hornsby & the Noisemakers or Skaggs/Hornsby or the jazz trio thing," Hornsby said. "I have all these incarnations of my musical trip now."
Lancaster Sunday News * May 3, 2009
by Michael C. Upton