Yim Yames, Tribute To

Great artists are not bound by time; their dialogues can unfold over decades or centuries, the work continuing beyond graves or other man-made conceits. Take Patti Smith's artistic communiqué with Baudelaire, André Breton's with the deceased Comte de Lautréamont, or LA artist Robert Irwin's harkening back to the work of Italian still life painter Giorgio Morandi.

We can now hear that same communication between My Morning Jacket's Jim James (here as Yim Yames) and the Beatles 'lead guitarist (and dark horse songwriter) George Harrison. Put down to four-track in the days following Harrison's passing from cancer in November of 2001, James never had the chance to meet his idol, but within seconds of hearing his lonesome take on "Long Long Long," the reverence (and cavernous reverb) that the man and his band has for Harrison is undeniable.

The album's liners by James state as much referring to Harrison's music as "a prime example of the healing power of music" and in just six songs, he evokes and taps into that power. Be it his banjo-driven take of "Love You To" to the piano that garlands "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)," James allows his heart to be unfettered. As his keening tenor gets double-tracked on "Long Long Long," the melody slowly plucked from his acoustic six-string, it's one of the most emotionally stunning moments of James 'career. No doubt Harrison can hear it as well.