Night Dawn: Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt

David Broza (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 23, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: S-Curve Records
• ASIN: B0033WH6O0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,930 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great words from a legend put to excellent music, April 28, 2010

By 

think good "life of music" (Prescott AZ USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Night Dawn: Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt (Audio CD)

i'm a big TVZ fan and this was a great way to be introduced to David Broza. this project was in the works for some time and it's great that it finally found the finish. And Broza did Townes words justice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Twilight With Townes, May 27, 2011

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Night Dawn: Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt (Audio CD)

I have been a fan of David Broza for quite some time, including seeing him perform. He's an Israeli folk singer with a husky, sensual voice who's a major star over sees and a cult following stateside. He's done albums in English, Spanish and Hebrew, and "Night Dawn" is his first English Language album in many years. It comes with its own peculiar back story. As it turns out, Broza was a close friend of the late Townes Van Zandt, whose best known songs include the classic "Pancho and Lefty." Prior to his death, Van Zandt had approached Broza about working on an album with Townes' lyrics and David's music, but Van Zandt passed before the project came to fruition. These were the last lyrics/poems Van Zandt had written.

Broza held on to the lyrics, which at one time were being considered for an all-star tribute to Townes where other luminaries would each take a poem and complete a song. That project sputtered and stalled and never came to be, and finally, in 2010, Broza approached Van Zandt's family/estate about completing the album he and Townes had started in 1994. "Night Dawn" is the result, and it's a pretty good effort. There are some nice fits, like "Soul to Soul" and "Night Dawn/Silver Dollar." Broza's guitar style as a flamenco man doesn't always match the sadness in Van Zandt's words, like the divorce of "Southern Cross" and or a downer like "The Deer" (with this couplet "hard times lead, worse times follow...").

For the most part, "Night Dawn" is a good match between kindred spirits. Broza's rich voice infuses the words with the kind of emotional weight of Townes' intent. Like Steve Earle's tribute of Van Zandt covers ("Townes"), Broza shows and obvious deep love for his friend and the music he was entrusted with. While the quality of the songs is a little uneven, the heart is in the right place.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Broza misses the mark. Doesn't even come close., October 29, 2010

By 

Joel Wende - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Night Dawn: Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt (Audio CD)

I had such high hopes for this but as I was listening to it I could literally feel my stomach dropping track by track. This is a collaboration between David Broza, a brilliant Israeli folk musician, and the late Townes Van Zandt (my favourite country singer). Van Zandt left Broza his last lyrics and 13 years after his death Broza has turned them into this album.

Broza fails to capture the spirit of Van Zandt entirely. Playing Spanish flamenco music to sorrowful, deep lyrics detailing the last few years of the life of Van Zandt is just horrible. Stay away.