Zacc Harris: American Reckoning
Shifting Paradigm Records

Authenticity, thoughtfulness, and depth inform Minneapolis-based guitarist Zacc Harris's sequel to his acclaimed 2017 release American Reverie. While only one of the eight pieces is a Harris original, his fresh interpretations make the covers feel like personal expressions. Stephen Foster might be the composer responsible for “Hard Times,” for instance, yet when performed by the guitarist, bassist Matt Peterson, and drummer Lars-Erik Larson it seems more like a Harris piece than a treatment of another's material. That many of the songs resonate so powerfully in our current climate factors into the personalized impression they make too. Bob Dylan wrote “I Shall Be Released” and “Masters of War” long ago, but each sounds no less timely when broached through a contemporary lens. These Rorschachs allow any number of meanings to be projected onto them, such that one could tie to the former, to use one example, the desire for liberation from pandemic-related isolation, which clearly wasn't on Dylan's mind when he wrote it.

The title's purposefully chosen, of course, and naming it American Reckoning is Harris's way of emphasizing that the country's currently in desperate need of self-examination. That perspective is borne out in the seven-line statement on the inner sleeve that begins “Here we stand, in the quiet moments before first light / Never more connected, never more alone” and ends by identifying the present moment as a “time for reckoning,” plus in Harris's own comment that the songs “carry a deep sense of nostalgia but that nostalgia feels conflicted now. There's a tension between the idyllic and pastoral imagery they conjure and the realities of the time we're living in.” That tension's present throughout the set, even in its quietest moments.

Aside from the uniformly terrific performances, what distinguishes the release most is the different slants Harris brings to the songs. While "I Shall Be Released” has been covered countless times, the guitarist saw fit to initiate his dreamy ten-minute treatment as a meditative drone, in all likelihood the first time it's been presented as such. Likewise, “House of the Rising Sun” wrests itself free of its Animals-related association by appearing in a breezy 7/4 reimagining that feels as different from the Eric Burdon-led classic as might be imagined. The trio's earnest rendering of The Beach Boys' “God Only Knows,” on the other hand, hews closely to the original—a wise move on Harris's part when the song's melodies are so iconic. The sunny treatment of “You Are My Sunshine” keeps its sadness and anxiety at bay so as not to dampen the spirits in this classic guitar jazz trio performance.

As should be obvious, the set-list Harris devised for the release doesn't feature jazz standards but rather folk and rock classics with a few traditionals mixed in for good measure. The three players do, however, bring to these instrumentals backgrounds in improvisation, which helps make the pieces unfold with the ease and spontaneity of jazz expression. Naturally, one of the album's strongest aspects is Harris's guitar work. His versatility is shown in the confidence with which he adapts to multiple idioms and the strength of his articulation and seasoned tone. He's a player with many years behind him, and it shows in the authority of his expression. It's significant too that the voice he's developed is his own, even if the approach adopted for a song such as “Hard Times” might call Ry Cooder to mind. The rapport he's developed with his ever-responsive partners, Peterson and Larson, is clearly evident too.

It's worth noting that the songs aren't recent but instead ones from earlier times. Yet they feel vital and alive when Harris and company treat them as living, breathing artifacts that offer the means by which we might understand ourselves anew. Doing something original with “Amazing Grace” would be a challenge for any contemporary musician, but even here Harris succeeds at creating an original statement when the enduring hymn's darkened with a subtle shadow of foreboding. The beauty of his guitar tone's accentuated when the song begins with Harris alone before his partners enter to push the performance into higher gear. On some songs, the leader layers in extra guitar, in this case an acoustic to intensify its swinging, folk-rock feel. Serving as something of a template for the album's general approach, Harris voices the melody directly before freeing himself and riffing on the song's changes for a solo. Peterson shows himself no slouch as a soloist either when the leader hands off to him in this song and elsewhere (Larson solos too, though less frequently than the bassist).

July 2026