Two solo albums from Geoff Muldaur – recorded long after his jug band years, and his earlier sets with wife Maria! First up is Geoff Muldaur Is Having A Wonderful Time – a striking solo album from Geoff Muldaur – a record that draws on all the many different
sounds and styles he brought to records through the 60s and early 70s, but which also adds in a stronger jazz impulse overall! Each track on the record has a slightly different spirit, which makes the whole thing feel more like a continuation of the experimental, open style of putting albums together that Warner/
Reprise was so great at a few years before – as Muldaur sings with backings from a jazz group on one track, a string orchestra on another, a funk group on a third, and a roots rock combo on another – with players as diverse as Merle Saunders on electric piano, Doc Cheatham on trumpet, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Harold Vick on tenor. Joe Boyd produced – one of the few folks who might be able to successfully handle such a range – and titles include "Higher & Higher", "99 1/
2", "Livin In The Sunlight", "I Want To Be A Sailor", "Tennessee Blues", "High Blood
Pressure", and "Wondering Why". Motion is a set that's a bit tighter than some of the earlier work of Geoff Muldaur – a set that maybe has the well-trained singer moving into territory that's almost verging on AOR, yet which still hangs on to some of the wit of his earlier records as well! There's still some key traces of 70s Warner going on here – including a few songs by Allen Toussaint, and one with Martin Mull – which help balance out some of the more direct, tuneful numbers, and continue to provide some of the more offbeat qualities that made Geoff such an interesting sideways talent in the mainstream music world. Tracks include "Motion", "Let It Out", "I Don't Want To Talk About It", "When You Touch Me This Way", "Why Don't We Live Together", and a version of "Southern Nights".