Three years ago, Josh Weinstein was living two buildings away from the World Trade Center, working as an advertising copywriter, and occasionally plunking out a song or two on the piano he'd kept as a remnant of his days as a musician.
Then the S [+]Three years ago, Josh Weinstein was living two buildings away from the World Trade Center, working as an advertising copywriter, and occasionally plunking out a song or two on the piano he'd kept as a remnant of his days as a musician.
Then the September 11 attacks occurred.
Josh was there while both planes crashed and both towers collapsed - literally around him. The road to recovery that followed - one that eventually led to Josh's return to music full-time - is detailed in the song, "There Ain't Nothing Sadder Than a Saturday Night," the exhilarating second track on Petty Alchemy.
Petty Alchemy dips comfortably into jazz, folk, blues, gospel and even classical influences, with a tasteful, keep-it-in-your-pocket arrangement sensibility that allows the songs to flow and breathe on their own terms - a refreshing throwback in this era of hard-drive-created pop tunes.
"We made it a point to keep the sound 'human,'" says producer Aaron Keane. "There's a temptation in the studio to clean everything up, to make it slick. But this is an album about the moments that add up to living a life, and life is messy. It's unexpected. So it was important that the songs remained honest and surprising as well."
Petty Alchemy was completed in the course of a month in the spring of 2003 and features some of New York City's premier jazz, classical and funk musicians. It's an album of literate, interesting, accomplished original music, well worth a listen.
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