Gentle Spirit, Jonathan Wilson’s critically acclaimed 2011 solo debut, sounded like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young getting high on The Dark Side Of The Moon. The new Fanfare sets the Wayback Machine for a slightly more recent vintage—roughly 1975. The Sopwith Camel cover and occasional jazz flute filigree notwithstanding, Fanfare sounds like Crosby, Stills & Nash crashing the recording sessions for Wish You Were Here, only to find out that Steely Dan has already done all the blow. Tin soldiers and Nixon have come and gone. Jimmy Carter’s in the White House and Cecil Taylor is on the lawn. Wilson will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on him.
Wilson: OK, so I buy a lot of gear. Every city, every stop, I’m searching for the local gear shop, pawn shops, anywhere a pile of gear may be hiding. It’s saying something to name a favorite shop, there are so many. But every time I go to Austin, I end up buying something I love at this shop. I was just there a few weeks back and got the most amazing 12-string, a ’64 Gibson B-45 (a la Gordon Lightfoot and Fred Neil). It’s a proper shop of things piled up, laying around and everything you want for a good gear dig.
