The Outlaw Movement has gone beyond country to jazz. That's right. Jazz.
Shooter Jennings and pianist/composer Erik Deutsch got together to record a tripped-out version of "Whistlers and Jugglers," a tune Shooter's dad, Waylon Jennings, put down in the 1970s. The new rendition will be included on Deutsch's February release, "Outlaw Jazz," which includes other country tracks reworked into psychedelic jazz covers, reports Rolling Stone Country.
Deutsch, who has collaborated frequently with Shooter, notably on Jennings' 2012 "Family Man" album, recruited the son of Waylon specifically for the track "Whistlers and Jugglers"
Waylon recorded the Shel Silverstein-penned song for his 1978 album "I've Always Been Crazy."
"When I was first introduced to Shel Silverstein's song 'Whistlers and Jugglers,' I was instantly mesmerized by the imagery of the lyric: a love lost, a lesson learned, and a girl's enchantment with 'whistlers and jugglers, and singers of songs,'" Deutsch told Rolling Stone Country.
The opening half of the song is just Shooter being Shooter with Deutsch's masterful piano work. After the three-minute mark, the song transforms into a jam session. Shooter's vocal work is a highlight of the recording.
"Shooter brings so much passion, intensity, and honesty to everything he sings, and this performance is certainly no exception. Waylon's recording of 'Whistlers' is bouncier, quicker and more swinging than our version," explained Deutsch. "Somehow we naturally, without discussing it, dug into the dark, slow, more mysterious side of the composition, ending up in a place reminiscent of Pink Floyd."
"Outlaw Jazz" is due out Feb. 24, Music Times reported.
"After more than two years of playing music around the globe, I'm back in NYC and ready to record my next band album," added the pianist. "While I was touring the country with Shooter Jennings and the gang, I started hearing music in my head that blended my style of jazz with country music. I coined it 'Outlaw Jazz'... now it's time to bring that sound to life!"
