Bruce Cockburn
Small Source of Comfort
True North
Fans of Bruce Cockburn’s
extraordinary acoustic
fingerpicking will be
thrilled with Small Source of Comfort, his
31st studio album. Cockburn’s shimmering
arpeggios, syncopated riffs, and hypnotic
single-note lines blend elements of Mississippi
John Hurt, Jerry Garcia, Leo Kottke, and
Brazilian greats Luiz Bonfa and Oscar Castro-
Neves, yet remain entirely his own. Of the
album’s 12 tunes, five are instrumentals, so
there’s plenty of crisp, ringing fretwork to
keep guitar aficionados happy. Yet Cockburn’s
poetic—and passionately political—lyrics
and burnished, world-wise vocals take
center stage, supported by earthy, clattering
percussion, dub-thick bass, and occasional
jangling resonator slide guitar (ably played by
producer Colin Linden). Jenny Scheinman’s
soaring violin adds a sensuous touch to the
music, which sounds like it was recorded
right in your living room by old friends who
truly enjoy rubbing musical shoulders. The
Zen meditation bells that periodically chime
accentuate the wisdom, sadness, humor, and
beauty inherent in Cockburn’s songs and shamanistic
playing.
Small Source of Comfort
True North
Fans of Bruce Cockburn’s
extraordinary acoustic
fingerpicking will be
thrilled with Small Source of Comfort, his
31st studio album. Cockburn’s shimmering
arpeggios, syncopated riffs, and hypnotic
single-note lines blend elements of Mississippi
John Hurt, Jerry Garcia, Leo Kottke, and
Brazilian greats Luiz Bonfa and Oscar Castro-
Neves, yet remain entirely his own. Of the
album’s 12 tunes, five are instrumentals, so
there’s plenty of crisp, ringing fretwork to
keep guitar aficionados happy. Yet Cockburn’s
poetic—and passionately political—lyrics
and burnished, world-wise vocals take
center stage, supported by earthy, clattering
percussion, dub-thick bass, and occasional
jangling resonator slide guitar (ably played by
producer Colin Linden). Jenny Scheinman’s
soaring violin adds a sensuous touch to the
music, which sounds like it was recorded
right in your living room by old friends who
truly enjoy rubbing musical shoulders. The
Zen meditation bells that periodically chime
accentuate the wisdom, sadness, humor, and
beauty inherent in Cockburn’s songs and shamanistic
playing.
