Bob Malone }-- Reviews

In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit, I’ve known Bob Malone for nearly eight years now. Back in November of ‘98, in spite of the fact that my wife was nearly nine months pregnant with our first child, we decided to see the Neville Brothers for one of their few shows in the Midwest. The opening act was a chubby, long & curly haired piano player in a dark blue pin stripped suit and black, side-zippered boots. My expectations were low. By the third song Malone’s melodic stride piano style had people streaming back into the hall and at the end of each song a thunderous cascade filled our Music Hall. It was authentically rootsy, sometimes humorous, and familiar with appropriate pop music references. Not bad for one guy and a plugged in piano. These days Malone’s albums bring me back to that concert where within days our first child would be born. Even invetro, our Ian was hip enough to kick & squirm along with that funky piano so much that his mother remarked that he was dancing along.

I was excited when I opened the mail to find Bob Malone’s fourth solo album, Born Too Late, inside. Over the past eight years I’d grown fond of his previous solo records. Malone’s base is in the finest traditions of the great New Orleans piano players, his John Hiatt like use of wordsmithing & imagery, and his ability to pull the finest pop sensibilities from Billy Joel without traveling down that schticky road make him, for me, one of the finest undiscovered talents around. Although he was on the entry list for the 2003 Grammy Awards (Best Contemporary Album) somehow this talented native from New Jersey travels under the radar of the music affection.

On Born Too Late, Malone romps through a mid-1800’s style using a full piano sound and a rock band for backing. In a forlorn minor key Malone sings, “Nobody ever died from a broken heart” in the song “Healing With My Heart.” Over the tangy slide of noted bluesman Paul Richell’s National Guitar, Malone shares his thoughts about his adopted home, “Hollywood is a nasty little town and no place for a stand up guy.” And on the track “I’m in Love with The Woman the Other Women Love to Hate” Malone’s intro & piano lines more than tips his hat to the late-Professor Longhair. Once again Malone teams up with his previous Producer and drummer Robert “Jake” Jacobs as well as using L.A. Attorney/ singer/ wife Karen Nash and Renee Safier; with whom he collaborated with on the jazz album They All Laughed in ‘98.

As you would expect Malone continues to mature as a songwriter utilizing his Under Grad from the prestigious Berklee School of Music (in Boston) and his Master’s from the School of Hard Knocks. While avoiding the usual clichés, this album is more roots based and less pop orientated than previous records. When discussing a different artist my brother-in-law once noted that his connection was based on the fact that “he sings about things that are happening in my life.” To the same degree Malone includes musings about issues and concerns that touch Baby Boomers by singing about universal feelings and experiences. In the end this is another well written, well produced, well arranged album that includes great depth & texture, excellent performances, and, damn gumit, a full length album that pieces together into a complex yet easily appreciated work of musical art. That Malone been ignored by “Major Labels” only serves to testify how good he really must be.