Van The Man steps back into the past

One cannot say that Van Morrison’s recordings of the last twenty years have left as much of an impression as his early '70s masterpieces such as Astral Weeks, Moondance or Veedon Fleece. But in 2012 Born To Sing: No Plan B was a nice come back, proving the Irish bard still had a lot left in the tank.

Four years later Keep Me Singing confirmed this intuition with new songs on which Van The Man not only adapted to the constraint of age – he doesn’t sing like in 1969 anymore – but in fact masterfully tamed these limitations, giving each track a lived-in and warm atmosphere. Less passion and exuberance, more finesse and heart, all in his usual wonderful combination of soul, jazz and blues, his true trademark. This spirit remains on Roll With The Punches even if the repertoire is mostly made up of blues and soul covers (Bo Diddley, T-Bone Walker, Count Basie, Sam Cooke, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Lightnin' Hopkins, Mose Allison, Little Walter, Bo Diddley), along with five original songs. A 37th album produced by Van Morrison himself and on which he collaborated with Jeff Beck, Paul Jones, Jason Rebello, Chris Farlowe and Georgie Fame.

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