Jeff Johnson

Item: Prayers Of St. Brendan - The Journey Home
Author: Kenn Johnson

Prayers Of St. Brendan - The Journey Home

(1998)

Reviewed by Kenn Johnson

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Label Hearts of SpaceThe LighthouseUnsorted 1999

ambient celtic new age

Ever since the release of the acclaimed Icon in 1984, listeners have come to accept Jeff Johnson as an unpredictable and experimental, yet gratifying, composer/artist. Over the years he has pulled listeners through a maze of progressive musical steps, with each successive release alluding to a promise of something ahead that is truly great, truly satisfying, truly exceptional. Prayers Of St. Brendan - The Journey Home seems the long-awaited answer to that promise.

Johnson has consistently demonstrated the ability to make what might otherwise be ordinary into something vibrant, inspiring, and uniquely engaging, taking what are at times the most basic chords and structures and wrapping around them immensely interesting textures that draw the listener further and further into the music he creates - not unlike what Alan Parsons did for the pop genre in the '80s and early '90s.

Happily, Johnson offers no exception here. Right from the start he states a theme that is at once simple and enticing, leaving the listener anxious for more. And it comes. Throughout, the listener is pulled through an array of emotive pieces, at one point relaxed, meditative, and thoughtful; the next percussive and bordering on ambient. Perhaps like St. Brendan himself, the listener is never fully at rest throughout the journey. It is no secret that Johnson is here drawing upon the surging favor of modern Celtic music and the success of such groups as Clannad and Lorena McKennitt, not to mention his previous Celtic-themed works for the Albion series and Windham Hill.

Yet at the same time, St. Brendan proves an evolution for Johnson. He seems to have overcome a kind of inhibition or constraint here that I sensed in his Albion and Windham Hill releases. His vocals seem more matured, relaxed, less strained or anxious, with a more assertive and developed sound musically. As I listen to St. Brendan, I wonder if Johnson has finally arrived at that season in his career where he can more restfully and freely create without the worry or pressure of "having" to.

Lyrically, while the story of St. Brendan's voyage incurs elements of faith and does have a decidedly spiritual center, in the vein of Iona (Journey Into The Morn), Johnson has managed to incorporate these spiritual themes, such as reliance on God, and His provision and goodness, with the equally tangible qualities of our darker human nature, such as doubt and longing, wavering and realization. The outcome is a relatable and satisfyingly inspirational tale.

Prayers Of St. Brendan - The Journey Home is both a relaxing and exciting journey, worthy of the listen. At a minimum, it has restored my faith in what Jeff Johnson can accomplish, both compositionally and as a producer. Here is Jeff Johnson in the height of his artistry. And if this is not so, if this is but another promise of something greater down the road, then I can scarcely imagine what awaits us.