Long ago and far away I called Simon and Garfunkel "God's duo" (they had some pretty stiff competition -- Jan and Dean, Sutherland and Pavarotti, among others). These days, I'd add to that list Louis Rosen and Capathia Jenkins, whose travels along a constantly extending musical road have taken them (and me and a host of their growing cadre of fans) from the Southside of Chicago to the racy love poems of Nikki Giovanni. They make music that stirs the soul.
On their latest album, "The Ache of Possibility" (Di-Tone Records DT225) Rosen, who composes and writes the lyrics, thickens his musical roux while continuing his collaboration with the poet. Four of the 12 songs on this exquisitely produced CD are tunes set to Giovanni's words. One of these, "Love in Short Supply, A Statement on Conservation," includes these lyrics:
Buying power in our world
Speaks to white illusion
Understanding what I need
I've come to this conclusion: Love is in short supply....
Like Giovanni, Rosen himself takes a detour here from his customary romanticism with several timely numbers, including the title track that finds Jenkins, in gorgeous voice, jamming with a running bass line as she sings about hope in the post-W era. The timing couldn't be better; Rosen may be a dreamer but he has his feet on the ground, intellectually. "The Ache of Possibility" is not a paean to an untested young president but, as the title indicates, a kind of knife-edged psalm:
I know the ache of possibility is now
Once again we plant the seed and speed the plow
Shed our sorrow
Stake a claim for the soul of tomorrow.
There's a healthy dash of Richard Farina on Rosen's "The Middle-Class (Used To Be) Blues," while "Winter Daze" recalls and improves upon his best tone poems.
Still, my favorites remain the love songs, especially the two that close the album, "A Lover's Melody" and "Love of Song," the latter a bossa-nova inflected toe-tapper that speaks not only to the ache of possibility between lovers, but to the power of song itself. It's just swell.
Rosen and Jenkins are independent artists playing gigs around the country; catch them if you can and check out their website.