Live On Breeze Hill
Released just two months before Rick Danko's death at age 56,Live on Breeze Hillcaptures a performer who, while in decline, still possessed the basic geniality that marked his music for decades. The longtimeBandbassist revisits his glory days repeatedly throughout the 11-selection CD, which opens with a new studio version of an old track ("Sip the Wine"). From there, Danko re-explores songs that became identified with him through his lengthy stint with one of America's most influential groups (and Band keyboardist Garth Hudson makes a mighty instrumental contribution here). The likes of "Stage Fright," "Caledonia Mission," and the heartbreaking closer, "It Makes No Difference," are surpassed by earlier studio and live versions, but Danko's drawling vocals maintained their aw-shucks appeal to the end. And lines such as "You don't know the shape I'm in" and "All good things must end" take on a ghostly weight when sung by a man whose time on earth was coming to an end.--Steven Stolder