Legendary songwriter, recording artist and performer Paul Simon will release his 14th studio album – ‘In The Blue Light’ – on 7 September 2018. Produced by Simon and Roy Halee, who have worked together since the 1960s, the album features a talented cast of musicians who have joined Simon to lend fresh perspectives on 10 of the artist's favourite (though perhaps less-familiar) songs, drawn from his unparalleled body of work.
Revisiting his repertoire, Simon has selected songs originally appearing on ‘There Goes Rhymin' Simon’ (1973), ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ (1975), ‘One-Trick Pony’ (1980), ‘Hearts and Bones’ (1983), ‘The Rhythm of The Saints’ (1990), ‘You're The One’ (2000) and ‘So Beautiful Or So What’ (2011), refreshing and transforming the compositions through new arrangements and collaborations.
Among the many musicians joining Simon on ‘In The Blue Light’ are jazz icons trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummers Jack DeJohnette and Steve Gadd. Two of the compositions recorded with the New York-based chamber ensemble sextet yMusic, Can’t Run But and Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War, are being brought to the stage each night as show-stopping highlights on Simon’s Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour.
The release of ‘In The Blue Light’ on 7 September coincides with the final leg of Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour in September, including four performances in the New York City area and culminating with the Final Performance on 22 September in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The UK has always been a very special place for Simon, and given that his last two album releases have gone straight to number one, there’s much anticipation for Simon’s 14th studio album, ‘In The Blue Light’. Paul Simon’s Farewell Tour makes its run through the UK this week, with his final European concert at London’s Hyde Park on Sunday, 15 July.
Simon explains in the album’s liner notes, “It’s an unusual occurrence for an artist to have the opportunity to revisit earlier works and re-think them; to modify, even completely change parts of the originals.”
“Happily, this opportunity also gave me the gift of playing with an extraordinary group of musicians, most of whom I hadn’t recorded with before. I hope the listener will find these new versions of old songs refreshed, like a new coat of paint on the walls of an old family home.”
