We asked Jackson Browne to submit his thoughts on John Trudell's new record, Blue Indians . Here is his written response to Gavin. John and I have been friends for a long time, and I've been involved with his work in the past. I think this is his best recording, his best collection of songs to date. He seems to have turned a corner, or reached a new plateau where his work is more personal and intimate, and at the same time it contains his very powerful world view and political perspective.
Spoken word presents some challenges in terms of recording.
His themes, which have always been very powerful and edgy, come to us by way of intimacy, rather than having to be spoken too strongly in order to be heard over a band. At the same time, the songs have choruses and hooks. But it's the development of his personal narrative that makes this his best work. We had the time to take a couple of things off and add a couple of songs to make it a very even yet diverse collection. If anyone should be on his own label, it's John.