Here’s Canadian Keven Jordan’s second album. Musically, if you like a rockier version of Bruce Hornsby (due to the piano saturation), then you’ll enjoy this.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Keven Jordan
ALBUM: Keven Jordan
LABEL: CBS Canada
SERIAL: CK 80194
YEAR: 1994
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Keven Jordan – vocals, guitar * Klyph Black – bass * Greg Critchley – drums * Rb Barraco – piano, hammond organ * Rob Friedman – guitars, lap steel, mandolin, recorder, electric piano, keyboards, percussion * Ricky Lazar – percussion * Vivian Williams, Sharon Lee Williams – backing vocals * Vinny Boombatz, Louie Cinquemani – african backing vocals * Roly Platt – harmonica solo * Hugh Marais – violin fx
TRACK LISTING: 01 Broadway Joe * 02 Who Knows * 03 Say The Word * 04 Mistaken * 05 So Far * 06 More Than Enough * 07 This Is Our Time * 08 Bought And Sold * 09 Here I Go *10 Still In Wonder
Background
Back in 1991, I used to read the Boulevard fanzine, put together by Mark Ashton and Bruce Mee. I’m sure many of you regulars remember that publication. It was where I found out all about Canadian artist Keven Jordan, and the very good CD he released back then: ‘No Sign Of Rain’. It proved to be a popular album, and remains (for me at least) a regularly played CD.
Jordan was nominated for a Juno Award soon after, and ended up winning the thing. However, his next album was released three years later, and many things had changed for Keven in-between times. None of the personnel who played on ‘No Sign Of Rain’ reappeared, and the sound on this second self-titled CD was very stripped back, with none of the lush arrangements to be heard.
The Songs
Produced by Rob Friedman at Toronto’s Phase One Studios, the album line-up is pretty useful, featuring Klyph Black (Vendetta and Urgent) and Regatta drummer Greg Critchley. I like some of the stuff on the album but when I interviewed Keven back in 2003, he admitted that his heart wasn’t really in it, and that he pushed to have the songs completed before the record label budget ran out.
Musically, if you like a rockier version of Bruce Hornsby (due to the piano saturation), then you’ll enjoy this. Tunes such as ‘Who Knows’, ‘So Far’ and ‘More Than Enough’ do it for me on an ‘immediate’ scale, while some of the others will take slightly longer for the uptake. Listening to this years later, this holds up well for me. Put it this way, if these songs were in lesser hands, they would’ve died a horrible death!
In Summary
As written about elsewhere on GDM, Keven opted out of the music business after this. The industry not quite setting off his fires of creativity. I’m ever hopeful that Keven Jordan comes back to music as a source of enjoyment, rather than it being a business. Wouldn’t that be great?
Video
NA
