On an average day at the Offbeat office, without fail we get a knock on the door. Either it’s a local musician, artist or promoter looking to bring attention to a newly released EP, gallery, or local event that is just getting off the ground. Rarely, though, has a full life walked through that door and seldom still has it ever sat down to share itself with us, but that is exactly what happened when Don Paul came knocking. He shook my hand warmly, and handed me his latest LP, Love Over War, and I promised I would give it a listen. Then, he began to tell the story of his life leading up to this latest release.
The lives this man had had astounded me: Alaskan trucker, middle-of-the-sea-roughneck, nomad, social activist, poet and musician. He spoke humbly about his life, saying as often as he could that his inner multitudes could not be attributed to anything other than luck. However, after he’d left the Offbeat office, and after I’d gotten the chance to listen to his newest LP, I would have to disagree with that sentiment, as tranquil as it is. Love Over War begins with “Get Your JAM On!,” a hefty, funky kick through the door with wailing saxophones and transcendent vocals provided by Roger Lewis and Erica Falls respectively. All the while, Paul is comfortable to assist with his playing and his poetry while the band takes off. This speaks to his humility as a musician, one that can recognize the pocket and support those band members that are there, as well as to the self-effacing man that I met in person, but I don’t think it can be called luck. From the very start, one gets the clear impression of the musician they are about to listen to. This is a seasoned, multifaceted artist that can lead with precision as well as quietly follow. He can tell grand stories while also listening to the words of his fellow bandmates.
The sides of Paul’s artistry only get more pronounced from there, with the following tracks providing a stage for his musical skill as well as his gifts as a poet. On a track like “About Reinaldo, Mourning and Outrage,” Paul unfurls a sprawling nine-minute tribute to the life, musings and daring escapes of the titular Reinaldo. There is the passion of his life, there is the hope for more time from Paul and Reinaldo, the warmth of summer days spent together with Reinaldo and his wife, and then finally there is the sudden grief and anger of a dreaded phone call and the loss of a friend. On “Glory, Glory, Glory is For Us All,” Paul and his backing band, Rivers Answer Moons, turn their mix of jazz and poetry into a kind of reverie, where one can’t help but listen to the soft voice of Falls singing words of peace and affirmation. The band itself plays madly and roars with the passion fitting a song of such high and mighty extollation. Everyone shines in their own way on this track, and no one is left in the shadows.
Finally, however, I believe the most striking attribute of Love Over War is its diversity. Paul leads the band effortlessly into funk, fusion and abstract jazz, as well as arrangements that have been stripped bare. In fact, one of the most powerful moments on the LP is in the track “A Baby’s Smile is Sweet to See.” Accompanied only by a pounding drum, Paul heaves and throws each word of his poetry to the beat. “A baby kicks, like a flower on the sea / She knows not the world’s danger or misery / Her touch, to you, is soft and dear / Her grip, as if to a glass so full.” The sparse arrangement of the track gives these lush words the ability to shine and twirl with each beat, and allows Paul to sit center stage as a poet, as a musician, and as an artist.
All in all, what Love Over War shows is the effect of a life filled with experience, and the kind of skillful artistry that inevitably follows. On this album, Paul leads, he follows, he whispers and bellows, he eulogizes past life and nurtures a new one, he speaks and he listens, but throughout each track he always remains essentially himself, a man of multitudes and vision. That is a feat that should always be celebrated, and I am not only excited for more music from this musician, but I hope for just a fraction of whatever luck he is talking about.
