Reviewed by Kerry Blewett
 
Reviewing this album was a somewhat different experience to other reviews that I’ve done of solo bassists. The reason for this is that John Lester is not only an accomplished bass player but also communicates extensively as a singer/songwriter. This CD was recorded in 2001 on John’s 41st birthday.
John dedicates the 1st track “The Heart of our Family” to his parents who, as he puts it, “are responsible for the good life that he’s been living”, presumably because of being able to pursue a life of music.
“Rose Colored Glasses” is a cheerful be-bop tune performed on his 80 year old acoustic upright bass. The other basses used during this performance are a Joe Zon 6 string fretless and a Michael Tobias 5 string fretted. I get the feeling that the title of this song reflects John’s personal attitude towards life.
Next up is “The Ways of a Woman” which is a track that I first heard him perform on the Euro Bass Day 2004 CD. This is a beautiful song exhorting the world to embrace the ways of a woman in order to overcome many of the problems besetting it.
My personal favourite on the album is “I Like Brunettes” which must have upset some of the blondes in the audience. Fortunately for John his disarming wit raises significant laughter from the audience and I’m sure he escaped unscathed.
The next two songs “All Blues” and “I Saw You” feature Bob Johnson on sax and are an unusual mix with only the two instruments.
“Both a Blessing and a Curse” is an autographical tale about the reasons for playing music and also about the hard times and good times that any musician trying to make a living from playing music would be able to attest to.
“Your Tattoo” features a percussion player and is a funky slap-style piece of blues. John then brings up a guitar player and the trio performs a neat commercial piece entitled “Reach Out”.
Now a piano player joins the ensemble and the next song addresses John’s spiritual beliefs and his version of the beginning of time which envisages man and woman being created simultaneously and is called “Two”. The last addition to the band is a drummer to help out on the next song, which is a lively number called “On My Own”.
The final song reverts back to solo bass and is the 1st song that John wrote for his solo career. It is a haunting song of life and death entitled “They Come and They Go”.
My overall impression of John Lester is one of a deeply committed songwriter first and a bassist second