''Dylan Different'' is a

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

album by

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

and jazz vocalist

Ben Sidran Ben Hirsh Sidran (born August 14, 1943) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist, producer, label owner, and music writer. Early in his career he was a member of the Steve Miller Band and is the father of Grammy-nominated musician, composer and ...

, released in 2009. It is Sidran's thirty-sixth album, and his fourth release with his

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

label Nardis Records.

Background

A tribute to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, the album consists of covers of his songs, reinterpreted as jazz. Sidran maintained the original lyrics, but introduced revised tempos, instruments and a large backing band. The album was recorded 1–4 June 2009. Eschewing a traditional

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

, Sidran elected to record the album in an Alsatian farm house in the east of France, explaining that he wanted to introduce the same haunted, mysterious quality that he felt from Dylan's music. Several of the musicians were also European, including Rodolphe Burger, a French singer and musician; Marcello Giuliani, an Italian bassist; and Alberto Malo, a Spanish drummer.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

* Ben Sidranvocals, piano, Wulitizer, Hammond B3, Fender Rhodes * Rodolphe Burgerguitar, vocal on "Blowin' in the Wind" *

Jorge Drexler Jorge Abner Drexler Prada (born September 21, 1964) is a Uruguayan musician and actor. In 2004, Drexler won wide acclaim after becoming the first Uruguayan to win an Academy Award, which he won for composing the song " Al Otro Lado del Río" f ...

vocals on "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" *

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only B ...

vocals and organ on "Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35" * Marcello Giulianiacoustic bass, electric bass * Amy Helmbackground vocals *

Michael Leonhart Michael Leonhart (born April 21, 1974) is an American jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist. Solo career In 1992 Leonhart was honored with the first Grammy Award for outstanding high school musician in the US (he attended Fiorello H. LaGuardi ...

trumpet, flugelhorn * Bob Malachtenor saxophone, flute, bass clarinet * Alberto Malodrums, percussion *

Leo Sidran Leo Sidran is an American Latin Grammy-winning musician, music composer, composer, performer, and producer whose Credit (creative arts), credits include co-producing the Academy Award, Oscar-winning song "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" for the soundtra ...

horn arrangements, additional guitar, Hammond B3, piano, koto *

Leonor Watling Leonor Elizabeth Ceballos Watling (born 28 July 1975) is a Spanish film actress and singer. Early life Leonor Ceballos Watling was born on 28 July 1975 in Madrid, to a Spanish father from Cádiz and an English mother, the youngest of four s ...

& Lucabackground vocals on "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"

Reception

Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Thom Jurek praised Sidran's interpretation and style, "his requisite musicality, unaffected jazzman's cool, and streetwise yet elegant poetic imagination." He also praised the source material, commenting on Dylan's ability to write "folk songs that transcend their eras of origin in relevancy."

References