The is the month when, one year ago, I wrote an account of Ben Goldberg’s tenth werewolf album, Thoughts of a Werewolf. This project began in January of 2022, when the jazz clarinetist released a series of nine mini-albums:
- The Werewolf of January 4
- Werewolf of Today
- Another Werewolf
- Werewolf in Therapy
- Lonesome Werewolf
- Werewolf Ah Um
- Good Bad Werewolf
- Story of a Werewolf
- Werewolf Awareness
These were all spontaneous improvisations, each recorded on a single day, hence the title of the first release. The titles are whimsical; and, if there is any connection between the sixth and Charles Mingus, I have yet to fathom it! Taken as a whole, however, the tracks unfold as an impressive display of solo clarinet technique.
Cover design for Ben Goldberg’s Werewolf Take Care album (from the Bandcamp Web page for the album)
This month the werewolf count was taken up to eleven with the release of Werewolf Take Care. (Any connection to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is purely coincidental.) It consists of six tracks. The longest is the first, running a little over six minutes. The shortest is the last, which is only 45 seconds. Nevertheless, there is again an engaging variety of dispositions emerging from Goldberg spontaneous inventions.
Since these are all digital releases, there are no album covers as such. However, Bandcamp always provides a “cover image.” Those that recall Thoughts of a Werewolf may remember that the image was cosmic. This time, as can be seen above, there is a return to “nature on earth” associated with earlier releases. Is this a sign of a back-to-nature movement among the werewolves?
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