is continuing full-force through Ensle."
-Texas Monthly Magazine
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Austin
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NEW
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George's photo has been included in the new Texas Troubadours photo journal by: Steve Harris published by: The University of Texas Press. "Genuine and soulful portraits" |
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www.UTexasPress.com |
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Real characters like Uncle Jack, the crusty old bachelor who gets a little bit too tight at times, but is still a kid's best friend, tucking him in on the sofa summer Saturday nights.
Characters like the housewife who dances in the kitchen to a golden oldie after her kids and husband have gone for the day, and the circuit preacher who drives a dusty old black Ford, baptizing in the middle of the river of love and understanding, and the father singing a long distance lullaby, and the widow in her parlor who lives across the street in a state of grace, and the mother who sings her children to sleep beside a tiny fire, beneath a third world moon, and the troubadour (Ensle's amigo) Townes Van Zandt, with lines cut deep around his smile, who's ragged as the wind and pure as the snow.
For these troubled times, Ensle captures the human condition with characters who inspire us to carry on, to look with compassion on others, to understand our commonality.
Ensle paints with the brush of hope.
"LIVE SET"
Review by Lucky Boyd
I love one-take albums and here's a good one. No
need to spend months with the works in the can waiting for countless over-caffeinated
reassessments at the mixing board softly killing the original intent of
the art. George Ensle and the Groove Angels Ensemble walk into a radio
station studio and put it all on the line with Austin, Texas listening.
The result is an album that has every instrument inflection still in tact,
each tiny faux pax in place, every groove preserved. Like a master's painting,
each crack of drying paint becoming character and defying critique, one-take
albums are for all of us to hear the chemistry of the musicians without
the distraction of a crowd. Live albums are different in that we get to
hear the musicians feeding off the energy of the crowd. I like a good
one-take album because I can hear the groove being hit by the collective
souls of the musicians, synergistically creating something that was never
there before, and not requiring induced energy created by spectators.
Ensle and the GAE conjure the groove on almost every cut of this release,
and when they hit it, you can feel it. It's there on the opening cut "Uncle
Jack" and you'll hear it throughout the album. The project has many
attributes and is a worthy release showing a great deal of the softer
side of George Ensle with poignant ballads as well as a couple of nice
toe-tappers. Ensle's writing is solid, as expected. Greg Lowry's dobro
and Greg Whitfield's guitar steal the instrumental spotlight. The highlight
of the disc is one you might have to sit down for. Sit down, put on some
headphones and play "The Troubadour" at a moderate level. Imagine
the singer has recently ingested a performance-altering amount of vodka
and the room is smoky and dim. Imagine the rhythms going softly off beat
now and then and a couple of subtle time signature changes. Imagine Wrecks
Bell on bass and Mickey White on lead guitar. Imagine just coming in out
of the hot Houston air, stepping into the hallowed confines of the original
Old Quarter. Now listen, and you'll hear Ensle as he channels the very
soul of Townes Van Zandt. For a second, if you listen very close, you
might hear Townes singing along.