These Days: Vince Gill is "Workin' on a Big Chill!"

Over the past few years, my taste in music has - shall we say - evolved. For most of my life, I've been a passionate fan of seemingly disparate music genres: classical music, and what has now become known as "classic rock." If you were to look at my compact disc (CD) collection, you would find, sitting side-by-side, albums by Bach, Bad Company, Beethoven, Bob Seger, Mozart, The Eagles, Haydn, Genesis... you get the picture.

Now, thanks in large part to the constant encouragement of my oldest daughter, I have begun listening to - and finding great enjoyment in - country music. In days gone by, it was a genre I never cared much for. As I've gotten older, though, today's mainstream "popular" music seems somehow less relevant to me. I decided to heed my daughter's advice and give country music its long overdue chance. And country music immediately struck a responsive chord within my spirit.

I won't say I'm sold on all of it, though. Some of what I'll call the more "modernistic" country music doesn't sit particularly well with me. A lot of what I've listened to on the radio seems more like "countrified rock 'n roll" than the traditional country music I remember from my youth. It's okay, but not really my cup of tea. There's also a great deal of country music that I find just plain awful.

I've discovered that I'm particularly drawn to some of the "old masters" - Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline - and the "new traditionalists" -- George Strait, Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, and the subject of this review: Vince Gill.

Vince Gill's name was familiar to me from my days of youth, when he was, for a short time, lead singer for a '60's - '70's rock group called Pure Prairie League. When I began listening to country radio about a year ago, I instantly recognized his fine, smooth tenor voice. In fact, one of the first country CD's I ever bought was his Souvenirs album.

In 2006, Gill released These Days as his first new CD in about three years. On the day of the album's release, I strolled into my favorite music store with the intent buying it. Imagine my surprise when I found not just the usual single CD in the usual jewel case, encrusted with the usual acres of shrink wrap and miles of security seals, but rather a handsomely packaged four-disc set, complete with a 60-plus page book of liner notes and song lyrics.

I'm always a bit skeptical at buying boxed sets, but what the heck... I plunged ahead anyway, plunking down the $23.99 (plus tax). As I drove home, I wondered: what would I hear when I delved into this massive set? A bunch of "covers" of old Vince Gill songs? A compendium of "moldy-oldies" from different artists, all performed by Gill? Was I once again about to suffer the disappointment of parting foolishly with my money and getting little in return?

Not only was I not disappointed by this CD set, I was positively stunned by what I found. These Days is truly a magnificent set! It contains 43 original songs, every one of which was either written or co-written by Vince Gill himself over the 18-months prior to the album's release. And every one of these 43 songs is brilliantly composed, arranged, and performed by Gill and a veritable "Who's Who" of artists from across the spectrum of popular music. (Gill's roster of collaborators include, among others, Bonnie Raitt, Alison Krause, Diana Krall, John Anderson, Trish Yearwood, and Amy Grant.)

Gill has carefully arranged the album's four discs for maximum enjoyment.

Disc 1, entitled Workin' on a Big Chill: The Rockin' Record, (running time: 36 minutes) contains ten songs, all of which are real honest-to-goodness "rockers." The disc's most notable songs include "Workin' on a Big Chill," and the most entertaining and daring cut on the disc: "Cowboy Up." Featuring country diva Gretchen Wilson ("All Jacked Up," "Politically Uncorrect") this rollicking tune, with its upbeat tempo and not-so-subtle sexual suggestiveness, will put a smile on your face and have you foot tappin' in seconds.

Disc 2, The Reason Why: The Groovy Record, is the longest and perhaps best disc of the four. Comprised of thirteen songs and running to 55 minutes, the disc shows Gill's full mastery as a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. I would classify all of these songs as contemporary rock ballads. "The Reason Why," the second cut on the disc, features Alison Krause, and was released as a single. My favorites, however, are "Faint of Heart," a real "jazzy-bluesy" duet with Diana Krall; "Time to Carry On," featuring Gill's daughter Jenny; and "Everything and Nothing," featuring Katrina Elam, a passionate love ballad that shows the full range and power of Gill's fabulous tenor voice, and his prodigious guitar-playing skills.

With Disc 3, Some Things Never Get Old: The Country and Western Record, (running time: 35 minutes) Gill delves into country music in its purest form. These songs hearken back to the good old days, before "country rockers" took over the genre and committed the "Murder on Music Row" sung about so passionately by George Strait and Alan Jackson. Echoes of the '50's and '60's can be heard in such masterfully written and performed tunes as "Out of My Mind," featuring Patty Loveless; "If I Can Make Mississippi," featuring Lee Ann Womack; and Gill's duet with John Anderson entitled "Take this Country Back."

On Disc 4, Little Brother: The Acoustic Record, (running time: 40 minutes) Gill delivers perhaps his greatest surprise: a disc dedicated solely to bluegrass music. All ten songs on this disc are backed by the traditional instruments of bluegrass - acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins, acousic bass. The songs range from the barn-burning "All Prayed Up," to social commentary "Molly Brown," to love lost "Cold Gray Light of Gone."

MY VERDICT:These Days has provided me with countless hours of tremendous enjoyment. Four three years now, I've had at least one of the discs in my car's CD changer. I can state unequivocally that I can't find any song in the set that I would rate as less than "excellent."

I believe These Days is, as of this writing, Vince Gill's magnum opus. It's likely never to be surpassed... or even equalled. Gill's mastery as a vocalist , guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and producer are all on full display here. These Days may, in fact, be one of the best and most important albums to appear in any genre for a long, long time.