From...Another Time And Place

The title suggests a reissue, but From ... Another Time And Place is a newly recorded Dave Van Ronk album. Still, the title isn't entirely inappropriate, since many of these songs have been in Van Ronk's repertory (and on his albums) for some time, starting with the title track, an original Van Ronk was performing in the 1980s and recorded on his 1991 album Going Back To Brooklyn. Also heard on that album was "Losers," a harrowing and savagely performed Van Ronk song that is repeated here. But that album probably has been out of print for years, so you can't blame Van Ronk for re-presenting such quality material. Otherwise, songs such as the Reverend Gary Davis' "Lovin' Spoonful" and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Koochie Man" have been in this folk-blues veteran's sets since he began turning up in Greenwich Village clubs. Always gruff-voiced, Van Ronk in his 60th year has lost nothing and perhaps even gained a more subtle expressiveness. ~ William Ruhlmann