Phil Cook Shakes Off the Noise with New Solo Piano Album ‘All These Years’
the Chippewa Valley native turns in a contemplative piano collection from a 100-year-old Steinway
Phil Cook’s new album took three days, plus another 100 years, to make.
The 10 songs that make up All These Years – out Nov. 19 – were recorded exclusively on a 100-year-old Steinway piano in the sanctuary of NorthStar Church of the Arts in Durham, N.C. – where the Chippewa Valley native now lives.
After making Southern-fried, gospel-inflected folk tunes for the better part of his prolific solo career, here Cook takes a turn toward the minimal, the meditative, the powerful. Ever the dogged collaborator, Cook is spotlighted on his own here, too. Truly solo. On All These Years, Cook – and his centenarian companion – explore worlds with simple notes to reach out to something divine.
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Phil experimented with sanctuary in order to honor the ritual.
He retreated alone to the mountains in North Carolina to write, sojourned to family abodes in Wisconsin to nurture. Yet it was during hour-long stretches of improvisation in NorthStar Church of the Arts in Durham where the music could open up to the presence of divine intoxication. The renewal of the elixir of life.
trever hagen
notes on phil cook's new album, all these years
A note from Trever Hagen on Cook’s website explains the process:
“Phil experimented with sanctuary in order to honor the ritual,” the note reads. “He retreated alone to the mountains in North Carolina to write, sojourned to family abodes in Wisconsin to nurture. Yet it was during hour-long stretches of improvisation in NorthStar Church of the Arts in Durham where the music could open up to the presence of divine intoxication. The renewal of the elixir of life.”
The record, in its own way, reflects themes of spirituality, togetherness, the mystery of faith – and how the passage of time warps and contorts all of that. The recording process was handled by the talented producer (and Cook’s cousin) Brian Joseph, who meticulously placed microphones around the church to capture the space as well as the music.
“Queen Of Branches” is the name of the first single, which dropped on Oct. 20 with an accompanying music video by Daniel Fox. The track came from one of Cook’s very first piano improvisations at NorthStar, and sets a pensive tone for the rest of the album. Another cool thing: All These Years is released via Psychic Hotline, which is a new artist-run record label out of Durham started by Amelia Meath and Wisconsin native Nick Sanborn of Sylvan Esso.
To pre-order All These Years, read the full note from Trever Hagen, and learn more about the album, check out philcookmusic.com. In the meantime, watch the “Queen Of Branches” video right here:
