“You’ve made a very happy man, feel very old” ~ Van Morrison NOV 2008

The career of Van Morrison has spanned 45 years. His first recordings were demos done with Them during the time they played weekly at the Maritime Hotel in Belfast 1964. The he band went on to later release a series of powerful hits. ”Gloria”, “Mystic Eyes” and “Here Comes the Night” were 3 representatives of the band’s music, which was quite unlike anything else of that era, primarily because of Morrison’s feral vocal sound and presence.

In 1966 I got an up close and personal introduction to Them when their US Tour passed through the farmlands of the Central California San Joaquin Valley. They played the Hanford Memorial Auditorium and it was mind bending. The band was incendiary and Morrison magnetic radiating an intensely dark aura wearing sunglasses and alternately singing with back to the audience or staring at the ceiling. It was a powerful experience for an 18 year old.

After leaving Them he ended up in NYC where he cut the all time pop folk/ rock classic “Brown Eyed Girl”. In the Summer of ’67, and still today, it sounds great on the radio.

In 1968 he created an album unlike anything that had been done in pop rockdom before. ASTRAL WEEKS was a jazzy, musical séance reflecting upon his past, at a time in his life when he was broke and a stranger in a strange land far away from his native Belfast home.

The few who heard it were entranced, but sales were negligible. Coffee houses, dark dorm rooms or hushed living rooms lit with candles were the terrain where many chose to experience this musical quest by Morrison for transcendence. It was music that explored the inner spaces. The album closer was “Slim Slow Slider”. Upon hearing it now clearly ends the album with a dark feeling, of death or finality.

Fast-forward to NOV 2008 and the first ever live performances of ASTRAL WEEKS. He performed it live for 2 nights at the Hollywood Bowl. When I heard the news, tickets were bought and plane reservations made without a second thought. I was excited that he’d revisit that album after 40 years.

The classic LA musical experience took place on a clear, crisp, starry night in the Hollywood Hills when Van Morrison re-created his masterpiece. Amidst a sea of multi-generational strangers each sharing their own personal stories about the album Morrison re-created that music. This time he was in the company of an audience who were ready to take the journey with him into the mystic again. The band featuring the remaining original session musicians and other top-notch guest musicians created an immaculate musical backdrop.

The first set consisted of songs from his various albums including those early singles. The spirit radiating from the stage was powerful and the audience was getting deeper into the music as the set continued. After an hour there was a break.

When the lights went down again a voice out of the sky introduced ASTRAL WEEKS and the evening came to life. I had seen Morrison many times over the years, this time he was markedly different in substance and style. His voice was spot on, the music was perfection, and the energy just kept getting higher. At one point he received rapturous applause and responded warmly to the audience with the aforementioned quote offering up a big warm smile and soft laughter.

A question has arisen as to why he changed the running order of the original album tracks. To anyone there the answer was clear by concerts end. The energy and creativity surrounding the music in this incarnation was far different than the original. It was filled with enough light to illuminate the entire Southland night sky and the new track sequence enhances that feeling and effect.

With the release of the New ASTRAL WEEEKS LIVE on CD and vinyl (+ future DVD) the original music has been reincarnated. It resonates with timeless lyrical images and classic Morrison scatology all morphing effortlessly into a soundscape of free-swinging celestial jazz. It’s an uplifting, richly thematic and soulful listening experience. Not often does an artist return 40 years later to their seminal recording and create something brand new. In recreating ASTRA WEEKS “Van the man” did just that.

The new music doesn’t reside in the sound of the past; it’s very much a work of today. When you hear it let it sink in. You can listen and learn from the past, and it can be a joy to experience it again – in another time, in another place, in another face – and a different way. In essence THAT is enlightenment and transcendence!