When Leon Russell died in 2016 at the age of 74, what he left behind from a 60-year career included writing, recording and production work with some of the giants of music, including Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and even Frank Sinatra. With On A Distant Shore the well-respected figure draws a veil over a life well lived.
Alas Russell’s final album isn’t quite the curtain call one would have hoped for. Thanks to Mark Lambert’s overly ostentatious and frequently intrusive production, Russell occasionally sounds lost within his own material. As on Just Leaves And Grass and On The Waterfront, swelling strings engulf the music rather than enhance it, thus leaving Russell sounding like a guest at his own party. But when they do get it right – the low-key blues of Black And Blue - Russell punctuates with an emphatic and worthy full stop.
