TOM POMPOSELLO guitars (bottleneck, slide, acoustic 5-string & 12-string, guitar synth), harmonica, banjo, sound effects
ART LABRIOLA piano, organ, synths, programming
BRUCE DITMAS drums
RANDY LANDAU electric & acoustic bass, 6-string fretless bass
PATRICIA LAWRENCE vocal incantations
LAURA SEATON violin
TOM CLACK analog sound design sequences
PHYLISS BEAUVAIS speaker

Stereiophile
Richard Lehnert

Imagine Ry Cooder, Henry Kaiser, and their usual pals deciding to ditch all that authenticity stuff, kick back, and make a kind of easy-listening, mood-music roots instrumental album. Well, Tom Pomposello--who more or less is Oilcan--went and did it. The mostly instrumental [once were] The Pastures of Plenty is a blend I haven't heard before of the hokey, the slick, and the gutsy. Pomposello's Cooder-esque slide work makes it all go down very easy, and the rhythm section of Art Labriola (keyboards), Randy Landau (basses), and Bruce Ditmas (drums) makes some of these tracks rock with a big-beat funk reminiscent of Cooder's Trespass soundtrack.

I wouldn't have thought a blues-based instrumental album written/produced by an MTV sound designer (Pomposello) and played by a bunch of NYC session musicians could sound this good--and, like most session-music projects, not all of it works. But roots do tell: Pomposello's earliest guitar memory is picking out "Dust My Broom". He played bass for the late Mississippi Fred McDowell, from whom he copped botleneck licks. He's fronted blues bands, and even taught classes on the genre. You can hear all of these influences on Pastures of Plenty, especially on tracks like "The Mississippi Boys" and "On Line (Guitar Synth Solo for Mississippi Fred McDowell)." And any album whose sole cover track is a haunting instrumental version of Jesse Colin Young's "Darkness, Darkness" followed up with a liner note to the effect that "By the way, I believe that "Darkness, Darkness" is about redemption....." is way ahead of the game in my book. Even the spoken-word track works.

Recording quality can make all the difference on an album like this, which depends more on ambiance and groove than on great tunes or brilliant playing. For all its meticulous post-production and sound effects (wind, water, big-city traffic), [once were] The Pastures of Plenty is recorded beautifully, with one of the most satisfying rock drum sounds I've heard. Besides, it's a great driving record.