3.5/5
Phantasmagorical is a followup to the spirt of 1978’s Master & Musician. Keaggy recorded, mixed and produced the album in his home studio. He graciously allowed Richard Dodd to master it.
The album features a capable band that includes Keaggy’s long time collaborator, Tim Shinness, on bass, mandobass, percussion, piano, tambura, bamboo whistle and zither. The band is rounded out by session drummer Michael Radovsky. The album also features appearances by Keaggy’s son, Ian (formerly of Hot Chelle Rae), session extraordinaire John Catchings on cello and jazz musician Sam Levine on flute and clarinet.
Just to get this out of the way, yes, the name of the album is a pun. Keaggy can’t resist transforming words that start with the letter “p” into a “ph” in reference to his name. Some think this is cute, others don’t. The album also has the needless subtitle, “Master & Musician 2.” Okay, got through all of that. Onto the music!
Phantasmagorical starts off with the dreamy “The Snow Before The Sun” before settling down into the reflective “Journey Home.” The track features Catchings on cello and feels like a worthy successor to Master and Musician. The band picks up the tempo for “Cascading,” which manages to be darker in tone before exploding at the end into brighter colors. The track moves the plot of the album along. Up next is a more reflective, jazzy number, “The Wind and the Beat.” The title is a reference to Keaggy’s 1987 album, The Wind And The Wheat. The song does have a more prominent beat. t’s a catchy segue that feels like they recored it for a chase scene. Up next is “Caffeinated Desert,” the album’s standout track for me. The song is a complex interplay between Shinness on piano and Keaggy on guitar.
“Lazy K” heavily features Levine on clarinet playing off of Keaggy’s guitar tones. “Oh Boy,” is a showy jazz number that morphs into an eastern influenced jam. While incredible, it doesn’t fit well with the tone of rest of Phantasmagorical. The album settles back down into the coffee house, “Far East of Cleveland,” one of the few tracks that feels like filler. “In My Father’s Time,” is an out of nowhere dream pop track that somehow manages to fit. “Father and Son” features Ian and Keaggy exchanging acoustic guitar melodies. It’s a very warm and hopeful number. The album’s coda, “Forever To Joy,” aims to end the journey on an uplifting note. The flute veres a bit too much into grocery store shopping for my ear.
Final thoughts. Phantasmagorical tries really hard and mostly succeeds. Keaggy’s become a much better producer by this end of phase two of his career. The album doesn’t feel dated the way of the original Master and Musician but It loses some of the delicateness and space of Keaggy’s first instrumental record. Shinness and Keaggy work really well together on this record and his passing is a huge loss for Keaggy.
1-The Snow Before The Sun (Keaggy)
2-The Journey Home (Keaggy)
3-Cascading (Keaggy)
4-The Wind And The Beat (Keaggy)
5-Caffeinated Desert (Keaggy)
6-Lazy K (Keaggy)
7-Oh Boy (Keaggy)
8-Far East Of Cleveland (Keaggy & Shinness)
9-Waltz Written (Keaggy & Shinness)
10-In My Father's Time (Keaggy
11-Father And Son Written (Ian & Phil Keaggy)
12-Forever To Joy (Keaggy)