Issue One 2011

“…oh, the trails we frequent, the circuits we dance through life…the treasured, familiar flaw…I am pitching a tent around it, making a home…alone in my element–that’s all.”

    It’s been just over two years since the release of her last musical statement.  And what a statement it was–“Familiar Addiction.”  Singer, songwriter and guitarist Noa Bursie has the ability to bite into a phrase–an experience–and make you relive it with a kind of electrically charged consciousness–a pristine clarity.  With the skill of a surgeon, she can cut you open, excise the most malignant presence, challenge you to examine it, then close the wound and soothe the ache before you realize you’ve been under the knife.
    The practice continues with the soon to be released, “To The Spirit Through The Flesh To The Bone.”  This particular incarnation furthers reflective themes of purification–exorcism contending with the ‘oh so willing’ spirit bound inside of the weaknesses of the flesh. Motifs of love and its myriad dysfunctions mark the landscape along with an unusual and historically themed ghost story.  The album showcases Bursie’s prodigious songwriting and guitar work and demonstrates, once and for all, that she stands among the very best of them.
    The title of the album was inspired by nothing more than a simple reaction to a song.  Bursie was sent a copy of a song performed by gospel artist Helen Baylor by Rochester’s 90.1fm WGMC radio-host, Derrick Lucas.  Lucas was hoping to get Bursie to cover the song for an upcoming tribute concert honoring music legend Bob Dylan.  After listening to Baylor pay homage to Dylan’s “What Can I Do For You”, Bursie says, “I couldn’t find the right adjective to do the song or Helen’s performance justice.  All I could do was describe what it did to me. It went straight to the core–everything Dylan could possibly have meant to communicate about spiritual longing through that song–he nailed it–and Helen interprets it flawlessly.  All I could say was, “Yeah, straight to the spirit through the flesh to the bone!” 
    Spot on to the target.  And so the title of the album was born.  Piercing through all of the facades to find the essence of a thing is, apparently, Bursie’s mission.  The project embodies that quest with all of the passion and writer’s craft she has demonstrated on her two previous releases, “TalkStory” and “Familiar Addiction.”  “To The Spirit Through The Flesh To The Bone” makes for an impressive mouthful, to be sure, but the weight of the title is sustained by an equally impressive set of new music and a list of Grammy Award winners, starting with producer William Ackerman, composer, guitarist, and founder of Windham Hill Records.  Ackerman, you may recall, discovered guitar virtuoso Michael Hedges, recorded some of his most seminal work, and is responsible for introducing his artistry to the world. 
    Joining Ackerman is Grammy Award winning engineer, Corin Nelson, who won the award in 2004 for his engineering magic.  Rounding out Bursie’s sound this time are a number of brilliant musicians, among them bassists Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, Elton John, James Taylor) and Jerry Livingston–a distinctive force of nature in a world of phenomenal bassists.  Other artists include percussionist Jeff Haynes (Cassandra Wilson, Lizz Wright, Pat Metheny), and violinist Charlie Bisharat, of Shadowfax, as well as Will Ackerman himself, accompanying Bursie on guitar on a couple of tracks.
    There is a curious dance artists like Noa Bursie undertake, one that keeps them tethered precariously between regional notoriety and international acclaim.  She has taken the stage in support of such legends as Richie Havens, Shawn Colvin, India Arie, and Suzanne Vega, to name a few, but the word on the wire is resounding, loud and clear.  She’s ready to fill the concert halls on the strength of her own name and music.  “To The Spirit Through The Flesh To The Bone” announces Bursie’s assent into the company of songwriters who have shaped generations and whose music reaches in and touches us to the core.