Cautionary Tales
Self-Released, 2023
8/10
A Long Island, New York native who now calls Sarasota, Florida home, Dean Johanesen is influenced by prohibition era sounds, hot club jazz, Western swing and American roots sounds on this 3rd album.
“Good King Rex (Intro)” opens the listen with soft, warm instrumentation that leads into the soothing fiddle and cozy guitar of the Americana influenced “Step Right Up”.
Further on, the playful, breezy, horn friendly “Strike Up The Bend” flows with charming melodies, while “Walker’s Pure Extract” touches on folk ideas amid the vivid storytelling and old time feel.
Arriving closer to the end, “Mr. Delaware”, the best track, is full of agile acoustic strumming, stirring fiddle and light vocal harmonies, and “Red Eyed, Red Light, Goodnight!” continues this sophisticated approach with soulful brass alongside the mood that seems like it might soundtrack a trip to a speakeasy.
Johanesen doesn’t hide his admiration for Django Reinhardt across the listen, and his current proximity to all the circus history in Florida is present, too, as he pens a very unique and nostalgic record that’s just as enjoyable today as it would have been 100 years ago.
Travels well with: Pokey LaFarge- In The Blossom Of Their Shade; Parker Millsap- Be Here Instead