Listen: just go buy John Leventhal’s second album National Drift. A restless musical genius, Leventhal hears notes and snatches of melodies and builds rhythmic patterns around them, delivering soundscapes that soothe and transport. He’s a guitarist who is one with his instrument, and he’s a multi-instrumentalist who composes and arranges little cinematic pieces that traverse the landscapes of jazz, spirituals, blues, and bluegrass.
Much like Howard Finster’s “found art” juxtaposes the earthly with the heavenly, Leventhal’s “found sounds” — his phrase for the origins of these 12 songs — combine earthworn cares with ethereal sonic flights. The steady drone of an organ opens “JL’s Hymn No. 1” and flows beneath Leventhal’s cascading fingerpicking, evoking the gospel air of a country church and acting much like an invocation for the album. With a blend of swampy blues and smoky jazz, Leventhal’s melodic notes and counterpoint talk to each other on his haunting “Red is the Color.”
