At a quick glance online, there’s not a ton of information about the Keef Hartley Band. The. band itself was led by English drummer, Keef Hartley, who was one of many artists who played at Woodstock in 1969, but the Keef Hartley Big Band was the only artist at the festival that didn’t have their set released on an official album or in the soundtrack of the film. Keef Hartley got his start as the replacement drummer for Ringo Starr in Ringo’s original band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. This particular album, The Time Is Near (1970), made it to #41 on the UK charts. Keef Hartley Band plays a blend of jazz, blues, and rock and roll, according to Keef Hartley’s Wikipedia page, at least. I’m pretty excited to give this one a listen, so with that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Morning Rain” starts out with some super intriguing reversed instrumentation, notably drums. Oh wow, the reverse sounds resolve really nicely to a really flavorful jazz-inflected r&b rock sounding track with some tasty horns, a bopping bass line, pleasant and warm piano, and some delicate acoustic guitar strumming. Wow, this is sweet. The sounds reminds me a lot of Allen Toussaint’s Southern Nights (1975). Great track, and I’m super excited to hear the rest of the album.
“From the Window” starts out with a really upbeat groove with the piano, guitar, and drums all marching the tune forward, while the sweet bass lines seem to walk next to that marching sound. Oh wow, this is awesome. The different instruments seem to be going back and forth between an improvisational r&b/rock and roll approach and a more jazz-like approach. Wow, great tune.
“The Time Is Near” starts out with some delicate arpeggios from the acoustic guitar, some light flutes that seem to beckon you through a meadow, and some crashing of cymbals that cause a stirring breeze to move about the soundscape. Oh wow, the acoustic guitar picks up a ton of flavorful weight, almost in a blues-inflected folk fashion. Holy smokes, this is tasty. The drums really seem to be conducting the direction of the band with super interesting fills. Holy smokes, the tune switched up to a super tasty electric blues track with the electric guitar picking up a bit of distortion as it digs into the groove. Oh wow, the organs come through and shine into the soundscape, and are soon joined by some soft chorus background vocals, almost making the song sound like a religious experience of sorts. Oh wow, things get extremely soft and delicate after a bit. Oh wow, this is awesome. The drums are absolutely delicious, and once again feel as though they’ve taken on the role of a conductor. Holy smokes, the horns come in again with some great flavor. Holy smokes, the organs seem to swirl right along the horns. This sounds like it could be a segment from Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig In the Sky”. Holy smokes, that horn that’s playing at the moment nearly picks up a mariachi or seemingly Spanish sound of sorts. Oh wow, the flavor from the drums is immense in this track. The strikes of the drums have such an interesting quality to them, almost like they’re echoing through tubes at times. Holy smokes, the tune has returned to the main chorus after that extended jam. Wow, great track.
Oh wow, “You Can’t Take it with You” starts out with a bit of a funk feel between the different horns and the gliding chops of the clean electric guitar chords. Holy smokes, the drums have a great steady feel while the bass seems to bop the tune forward with some smooth tasty lines. I’ve caught myself tapping my desk along with this tune, but want to keep listening closer. Oh wow, the drums pick up a super light jazz-swing feel between the delicate cymbals and the light snares, which seems to cue in the rest of the band for an extended exploratory jazz jam. The piano seems to be playing chords that are nearly dissonant with one another, but the quick and smooth bass line seems to walk all of the notes in line while the saxophone takes things into extremely exploratory, and nearly dark territory. Holy smokes, this is sweet. Wow, things resolve back effortlessly to that funk groove from the beginning of the tune. Oh wow, things simmer down really nicely at the end of the tune as things come to a close. Great tune.
Oh wow, “Premonition” starts out with a soundscape reminiscent of The Doors’ “Light My Fire” mixed with some groovy jazz, which is due to the Manzarek-like keyboards, the clean guitar that gently adds some tasty accentuations to the soundscape along, a seemingly simple yet increasingly intricate jazz rock swing in the drums, all while the horns and saxophone take things in an jazz-like exploratory fashion while they riff around the other instruments. Holy smokes, another guitar part comes on with some super tasty distortion and really goes in nicely on the groove from the rest of the instrumentation. Oh wow, the bass comes forward seemingly out of nowhere, while gently moving the soundscape along with the rest of the instruments. Wow, great tune.
Holy smokes, “Another Time, Another Place” starts with some strange and interesting reversed vocals that seem to drop a really sweet folksy acoustic tune that’s only Hartley’s vocals and a gentle acoustic guitar at first, though near the end of the song another sweet acoustic guitar joins in alongside a super tasty and bright horn. Wow, this tune is sweet. Great tune.
“Change” starts out with a guitar line that sounds like it’s a representation of nearing the top of the big hill of a roller coaster on the initial ascent. Oh wow, the tune seems to have a really flavorful and warm sound that gets grooving in a seemingly epic manner as the main chorus gets grooving, almost as if you’ve just entered a montage of the start of an epic journey. Oh wow, this track is sweet, and really alternates between paces and building and releasing parts in a very natural way. Great track, and a great way to tie together the album.
Wow, this album is pretty awesome. There’s some flavors for fans of a number of genres, hitting elements of folk, blues, jazz, r&b, funk, rock and roll, and even more, with short, heartfelt tunes and epic and exploratory jams. If you dig groovy fusions of genres that generally come together at a meeting point between jazz and rock and roll, you might want to consider checking out this album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely do hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A