Hot House
Studio album by
Bruce Hornsby
ReleasedJuly 18, 1995
RecordedBruce Hornsby's House Virginia, Club Front Marin County, California, Soundmasters Los Angeles, California
GenreJazz rock[1]
Length59:11
LabelRCA
ProducerBruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby chronology
Harbor Lights
(1993) 		Hot House
(1995) 		Spirit Trail
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]

Hot House is a 1995 album by American musician Bruce Hornsby. It is Hornsby's second solo album and his fifth overall studio release (three previously with The Range). "Walk in the Sun" and "Cruise Control", from the album, were released as singles (with radio edits).

The album's cover art, featuring an imagined jam session between bluegrass legend Bill Monroe and jazz legend Charlie Parker, served as an apt metaphor for the rich fusion of musical styles Hornsby was developing and expanding.

The album found Hornsby expanding upon the foray into jazz sound from Harbor Lights, this time reintroducing elements of bluegrass from A Night On The Town and his earlier collaborations.[3] Much like the socially conscious lyrics of his earlier work, the underlying messages behind the catchy tunes are often very dark, such as on "Country Doctor", "Hot House Ball" and "White Wheeled Limousine", where story-telling lyrics build around spousal murder, nuclear disaster, and wedding-day adultery, respectively.

The album featured many of Harbor Lights' guests, such as Pat Metheny and Jimmy Haslip. Béla Fleck also collaborates again on banjo. The album's closing track, "Cruise Control," is the last Hornsby song on which Jerry Garcia played guitar; at a concert he performed in Buffalo, New York, in August 2008 on the anniversary of Garcia's death, Hornsby said Garcia had wanted to play on "Country Doctor", but was given an easier tune to play because of his poor health.

"White Wheeled Limousine" had debuted five years earlier as an encore to Branford Marsalis's opening act for the Grateful Dead's New Year's Concert on December 31, 1990, when Marsalis and Rob Wasserman joined Hornsby in the performance.[4] The Hot House version of "White Wheeled Limousine" pairs Pat Metheny's guitar with Fleck's banjo for a blisteringly intricate call-and-response alongside Hornsby's piano runs. Hot House also makes an homage to Hornsby's years with the Dead via his recasting of the chorus/bridge of the Dead's song "Estimated Prophet" as the newly lyricized Hornsby tune "Tango King."[4] The album also boasts a more prominent role for Harbor Lights alum John D'earth on trumpet and introduces Bobby Read on woodwinds and J. V. Collier on bass. Read and Collier continue to perform with Hornsby.

Track listing

All songs written by Bruce Hornsby.

  1. "Spider Fingers" – 6:44
  2. "White Wheeled Limousine" – 5:28
  3. "Walk in the Sun" – 4:58
  4. "The Changes" – 5:49
  5. "The Tango King" – 5:48
  6. "Big Rumble" – 4:40
  7. "Country Doctor" – 5:57
  8. "The Longest Night" – 5:22
  9. "Hot House Ball" – 4:41
  10. "Swing Street" – 4:36
  11. "Cruise Control" – 5:03

Personnel

Additional personnel, by track 2. "White Wheeled Limousine"

3. "Walk In The Sun"

4. "The Changes"

  • Pat Metheny – guitar

6. "Big Rumble"

7. "Country Doctor"

  • Derwin "Stump" Cox – percussion
  • Randy Jacobs – melody guitar
  • Chaka Khan – backing vocals
  • Pat Metheny – guitar solos
  • Larry "Egg" Sears – percussion

8. "The Longest Night"

  • Randy Jacobs – rhythm guitar
  • Pat Metheny – sitar
  • Louis Price – backing vocals
  • John Paris – programming
  • Robert Brookins – programming

10. "Swing Street"

  • David Hollister – backing vocals
  • Levi Little – backing vocals
  • Stephen Lipson – programming

11. "Cruise Control"

  • Jerry Garcia – lead guitar
  • David Hollister – backing vocals
  • Levi Little – backing vocals
  • Randy Jacobs – rhythm guitar

Production

References

  1. ^ Yonke, William (1998). "Bruce Hornsby". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 558.
  2. ^ Hot House at AllMusic
  3. ^ Miller, Skyler. "Hot House: Overview". All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  4. ^ a b Heisler, Brett I. (2000-10-09). "Grateful Family and Friend: Bruce Hornsby". philzone.com. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
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