Every time we listen to Ian Tyson, we're more than a bit spellbound. And this 2005 CD of his was a special kind of spell - Tyson headed into country jazz territory, pairing his storytelling style with lush instrumentation. To our ear, this shares a lot with the work of Robbie Robertson. But, as we've noted, our ears are shot. [img width=662.5px]//7ca49eb9f67ba1319ef136f9d52cd8b8.cdn.bubble.io/f1771903278443x468201955808700240/richtext_content.jpeg[/img] [h2]Ian Tyson[/h2] [h3]Songs From the Gravel Road [/h3] **** 1/2 out of five Proving age is only a state of mind, one-time cutting horse champ Ian Tyson continues to create some of his most poignant and sturdy work five decades after he first put pen to paper and picks to strings. Stirring up the rhythms, incorporating instruments that slipped out of a late-night jazz bistro, and singing, at times, with an unsettling emotional edge, Tyson remains both a master storyteller and the enigmatic loner. Tyson starts by kicking up the dust as he looks both skyward and into the horizon on This Is My Sky before slowing the pace considerably on Land of Shining Mountains, a beautiful piece that is trademark Tyson when it comes to melding imagery with sentimentality. Two numbers that deserve a nod from commercial country radio are Range Delivery and the closer of the studio material, Always Saying Goodbye. Both are hung on superior melodies and absorbing hooks, and the former is given a sweet and sassy vocal treatment by Cindy Church. Through it all, Tyson's voice re- mains the focal point. Like the winds that cut through the valleys of the eastern slopes of the Rockies and into the foothills, it is sometimes warm, sometimes biting, but always the dominant force among the elements. -Peter North
