If you want to find a musical artist worth smiling over, Chris Bergson’s Imitate The Sun is a record you want to be hearing sooner rather than later. The quality of music that he has composed and produced on this really showcases the talent Bergson holds, not only as a musician but as a singer/songwriter. The 10-track album offers something for everyone with the likes of jazz, blues, rock, country, R&B, folk and funk, including six stunning originals and four surprising covers.
The album begins with “Goin’ Home,” a slow groovin’ song that starts off with pedal steel guitar picking, creating imagery of the Americana ambiance in the great south. While the album’s title track, projects an uplifting chorus introducing tenor and baritone saxophones played by Jay Collins. Mid-CD, Bergson lays it all down by covering Howlin’ Wolf’s classic Delta blues romp “Down In The Bottom” layering on both slide and lead guitars. Following suit, the talented Bruce Katz kills it on keyboards with “Dust My Broom” bringing back classic blues as Katz’s fingers dance and slide across the keyboard while Bergson’s throaty voice bellows, “I don’t need a woman/Just wanna stay drunk all the time.” The album ends with Bergson’s band covering Bob Dylan’s “Standing In The Doorway,” a slow-dancing song for the romantic at heart.
This album is a fine work of art stemming from the talented New York-based musician. Bergson brings it back to the basics with music from the South. Who knew a New York guitarist could portray the South in so many different ways?
In A Word: South
