Jeff Schreiber

Van Morrison has produced many classic albums, some of which could be considered by many fans to be “Desert Island Disks”. Philosophers Stone is certainly one of them. What’s significant about this record of previously unreleased songs and B-sides is that many of them are some of his greatest works in a place you’d never expect to find such brilliance. By 1998 when it was released, his singing range, especially the falsetto reach was nowhere near what you’ll hear in his earlier recordings and it is a real treat to savor again and again. Once again Van the Man proves that in the folk/jazz/blues/rock canon, he’s in a league of his own. One only needs to read the listeners comments on YouTube or on any streaming site to realize how much his music is adored by millions all over the world. We are lucky to have it and it never gets old.

Just when you think that Van Morrison has stretched his repertoire beyond to the highest and furthest places, he proves that he lives in a musically unlimited world. Without his singing or moaning, or yelling or whispering or jingling or jangling) voice, you get a chance here to just listen to Van the composer with him simply a player in the band. And after bringing it in while taking my detox mineral healing bath this moaning, I so glad I did. I remember one time hearing Van say that he started recording the album Poetic Champions Compose with the intention of it being all instrumental but when some of the songs produced such magnificent lyrics that contributed to one of his masterpieces, he ended up with only three where he didn’t sing and only played his saxophone. That was nearly 40 years ago and it’s been a long wait to this point where he delivered. And it’s so fine.