Just two weeks ago we heard Matt Rollings’ amazing keyboard work on Mary Chapin Carpenter’s new release, The Dirt and the Stars. Now the Grammy-winning producer and pianist issues Matt Rollings Mosaic, his first album in 30 years with a mind-blowing list of guests that reads like a lineup for the Americana Music Awards., representative of his many contributions to roots music. They include Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson, War & Treaty, Lyle Lovett, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Molly Tuttle, Buddy Miller, Heidi Talbot, Charlie Greene, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Alison Krauss, and Vince Gill. The album is a mix of famous tunes that Rollings has performed over the years along with classics.
Over the past four decades, Rollings has performed on thousands of recordings across a wide swath of genres, contributing to releases from Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Mavis Staples, Billy Joel, Dolly Parton, The Dixie Chicks, Metallica, and Sheryl Crow, among others. Rollings went from a jazz-influenced high-school kid honing his chops in a Phoenix country cover band to playing on Lyle Lovett’s major-label debut (and every Lovett album since), touring in Lovett’s Large Band, becoming Tony Brown’s go-to session guy for countless albums, producing Keith Urban’s breakout solo debut, touring in Alison Krauss’s band and winning Grammys for co-producing Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin, and My Way: Willie Nelson Sings Sinatra. years after his first. Rollings has also written, produced, and arranged for a bevy of icons, from Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett to Keith Urban and Mary Chapin Carpenter, taken home the ACM Award for Pianist of the Year on ten separate occasions and earned widespread acclaim for his 1990 solo debut, Balconies.
Rollings’ considerable work as a sideman and contributor supporting other artists’ visions has made for a remarkable career but he felt it was time to put his own vision to work. “I called this album Matt Rollings Mosaic not only because it’s a mosaic of styles and genres and artists, but because I feel like I’m a mosaic myself,” he concludes. “I love being a performer and a writer and an arranger and a producer, but so often, you’re made to feel like you have to pick just one. With this record, I got to choose them all.”
The opening Paul Simon’s “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” with The War & Treaty finds them in a gospel vein. Rather coincidentally, Rollings follows with a cover of “Accentuate The Positive,” often associated with the late NOLA icon Dr, John but here featuring Rollings’ longtime friend and collaborator of over thirty years, Lyle Lovett. It’s been released as a single as has “Wade in The Water featuring The War & Treaty and The Blind Boys of Alabama, which makes it among the finest collection of deep gospel voices to ever perform this chestnut. It was recorded in the first take with Michael and Tanya Trotter (War & Treaty) accompanied by Rollings and drummer Jay Bellerose. Dennis Crouch was later added on acoustic bass. Then he added the Blind Boys of Alabama, having driven to FAME in Muscle Shoals, to record their voices.
The stunning “Stay” has already been released as a single and video. Clearly, the album standout, Rollins offers this, “I wrote this song with the incredibly gifted singer/songwriter, Alisan Porter, who won The Voice in 2016. We wrote it for an album I produced for her that came out in 2014,” explains Rollings. “When Alison Krauss agreed to be a part of Matt Rollings Mosaic, I immediately thought of ‘Stay,’ and that she is the only person (other than Alisan Porter) that I could ever imagine singing it. We cut it live – piano, drums and vocal – and Alison Krauss did what she always does: leave everyone in the room with their jaw hanging open! Later I added her brother on bass (the insanely talented Viktor Krauss) and enlisted my friend, Kris Wilkinson, who did the achingly sparse string arrangement. Finally, the incomparable Vince Gill added a background vocal that perfectly supports Alison’s sublime performance. The result is one of my absolute favorite tracks on the record.”
The Lovett classic “If I Had a Boat” is not performed by its author but by venerable Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, who performs it faithfully in keeping with its original version. Charlie Greene and Rollings slow Sting’s “Spirits in the Material World” into a crooning lovely ballad which is followed by yet another gorgeous tale, “When You Loved Me Still” as Irish folk singer (Cherish the Ladies) Heidi Talbot sings in a heavenly style. accompanied by Rollings on piano and organ with John McCusker on fiddle. Talbot and McCusker return for Stephen Foster’s “Slumber My Darling” with McCusker’s tin whistle and Rollings’ piano framing Talbot’s exquisite vocals.
“That Lucky Old Sun,” released as a single, not only brings in Willie Nelson but Lovett and Ramblin’ Jack too. Rollings delivers one of his piano solos on it. Rollings says, “When the opportunity arose to have these three icons, …perform on this song with me and Jay Bellerose, it just alchemized into this loose and funky rendition. A bit later, I added my friends – guitarist/producer John Leventhal on acoustic guitar and banjo, and saxophonist Jeff Coffin on the woodwinds, along with tuba master Joe Murphy. The acoustic lead guitar is Willie, playing Trigger.” Walter Hyatt’s “I’ll Come Knocking” features another trio of guests: Lukas Nelson, Buddy Miller, and Molly Tuttle in a fervent southern gospel, choir-like rendering. Fittingly, Rollings concludes with Lovett’s “Pontiac,” a brief voice recording and the only time we hear his voice on the record.
Rollings delivers an elegant, classy record that not only showcases his keyboard and production skills but reveals the best in his superb guests as well.
