It’s usually the feeling people get when they meet a true love and wonder why that didn’t happen sooner: Where have you been all my life? But it often happens with music too. Somehow, an incredible, influential artist who has been around for years – or in guitar master Carl Weingarten’s case, four amazing decades – releases an album like the cinematically titled Songs for a Perigee Moon that captures my attention, prompting a deep dive into his life and career, as well as much regret for missing out for so long.
From the minute I began listening to the mysterious, atmospheric soulful jazz fusion opener “Ember Nights," I was intrigued by every hypnotic nuance, from the opening swirl of soulful groove and exotic percussion (by the powerhouse rhythm section of drummer/percussionist Celso Alberti and fretless bass legend Michael Manring) to Kit Walker’s sparkling piano and the first notes of Weingarten’s crisp, adventurous electric lead melody. The theme of the song is about nightlife and people making connections. He produced a video with UK actress Sophia Leanne Kelly (whom he met at a film festival) at a local pub with friends and patrons enjoying their night out.
This festive feeling matches my own hearing the song. It was a soul-transforming opening to my learning about the guitarist’s history with atmospheric sound, expertise on slide guitar and dobro and his role in progressive underground music. Though many of his works have been promoted in the new age genre, he feels the designation is a bit limiting, preferring the unique hybrid genre Ambient-Americana. “Ambient in the sense that it’s primarily instrumental and cinematic, but it also has elements of root music,” he says. “Americana is the marriage of melody and rhythm.”
For those of us who were unenlightened for far too long, the 11 tracks of Songs for a Perigee Moon (including a Midnight Mix reprise of the fascinating, sonically expansive “Twilight Reminisce”) make a perfect entry point into the vast Weingarten musical landscape. Interesting to note, then, that he had never heard the term “Perigee Moon” before last year, when he came across a reference to one in a short story he read. Always on the lookout for evocative titles for his music – no easy task after 40+ years of instrumental compositions – the phrase got him thinking.
Exploring the concept further, he says, “The Perigee Moon is a metaphor for beauty and mystery. It occurs when the moon is closest to the Earth, also known as the Supermoon. I’ve always been inspired by the night sky, starting as a kid when I went camping with my father. My dad was a scientist who was deeply passionate about nature and the outdoors.”
Weingarten adds that the full title ‘Rise of the Perigee Moon” is about renewal. Having just finished Ember Days (2021), he started recording the album with a lot of energy and was eager to keep the momentum going. But three songs in, he found himself running on empty. It was a tough time in his life, with his father having passed away after suffering with Parkinson’s for several years, and my mother moving into assisted living. It was stressful, but Weingarten kept working because music gave him purpose.
Then the creative breakthrough came, and the ideas began flowing again. One of the first songs to emerge from this prolific period is the lush, meditative title track, which is driven by a dreamy, blend of acoustic guitars for the lead and harmony lines floating over Manring’s moody hypnotic basslines. Weingarten gives credit to Celso Alberti for his subtle snare drum arrangement, which emotionally propels the song into the light as it progresses.
Though many listeners will enjoy the intriguing and ever-evolving journey/adventure of Songs for a Perigee Moon straight through, Weingarten offers some fascinating anecdotes about certain songs, any of which would make a great introduction to the experience. The sparkling, seductive dual melody Weingarten and Manring weave with Katy Stephan’s ethereal wordless vocals on “A Late Spring” takes on deeper dimensions when we learn that the song was part of an unfinished looping project from 2017 – eight years that seem longer because of the pandemic. Weingarten thankfully revisited the tracks and invited Stephan to sing with his guitar, ultimately becoming something of a lead instrument herself!
Two other tracks, the moody symphonic rock-flavored power ballad “A Wolf in Winter” and the epic, seven-minute, string caressed immersion “A Twilight Reminisce” – and its elegant solo piano reprise/album closer “Twilight Reminisce (Midnight Mix)” - perfectly reflect the guitarist’s love for classical music which began at an early age when his mother played him Vivaldi, Bach and Scarlatti records on weekends.
“I developed an ear for strings and love working with string motifs, which have a timeless and expressive quality. ‘Wolf’ began as just guitar and strings, which sounded fine but incomplete. The song needed more context, a pulse, and Joe Venegoni’s hand percussion part brought the piece into focus. ‘A Twilight Reminisce’ also started as a guitar and strings arrangement, but rather than a simple chord sequence, I composed the strings into longer passages, allowing the guitar to weave a series of melodies while the piano responded. It's the most melancholy piece on the album.”
With influences ranging from Ennio Morricone, Brian Eno and Vivaldi to Robert Johnson, Weingarten’s albums have often been described as more akin to a thematic soundtrack than a formal collection of songs – an aesthetic he brings to life again on Songs for a Perigee Moon with all the superb aforementioned musicians as well as Pat Duffey on acoustic guitar, Jeff Oster on flugelhorn, Bill Ortiz on trumpet and Billie Duffey on bass. The guitarist pays direct homage to the film score genius of Morricone on the soothing, lyrical elegiac ballad “Ennio’s Gold, another beautiful duet with Michael Manring.
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