Dance of Love

Born in 1941 in San Francisco, Belgium-based folk singer-songwriter Tucker Zimmerman is a child of the 60s. Haight-Ashbury psychedelia, draft-dodging escapades, tutelage in Rome on a Fulbright scholarship and an encounter in London with producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Angélique Kidjo) led to the release of Ten Songs by Tucker Zimmerman in 1968. Six decades and ten albums later, Zimmerman leads Big Thief, with whom he toured in 2022, and wife Marie-Claire through Dance of Love, ten songs formed by a poet’s lifetime of extraordinary experiences. Pizzicato electric and acoustic guitars propel the absurdist lyrics of ‘The Idiot’s Maze’ (‘take me out to the barbecue pit/smoke me like an old cigar’). Instead of Big Thief, iji (Zach Burba) and Twain (Mat Davidson) lend uber-soft support to the sweet and timely counsel, ‘Don’t Go Crazy (Go in Peace).’ As a whole, Dance of Love is a lovely, contemplative listen.