Michael Smith
Time (Flying Fish) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)
Fresh from his triumphant autobiographical musical “Michael, Margaret, Pat and Kate” at the Victory Gardens Theatre, Chicago’s preeminent singer-songwriter returns with perhaps his finest collection of songs to date. With only his agreeably creaky voice and deft acoustic guitar work for accompaniment, Smith weaves poetic and mesmerizing tales on “Time” that are guaranteed to draw you into his universe. “I Brought My Father With Me” is a clear-eyed look at how time changes the father-son dynamic, while “Gamble’s Guitar” is a touching tribute to the late Gamble Rogers. One of the most affecting songs is “Ballad of Elizabeth Dark,” in which Smith recalls an old lover: “She would read Dostoyevsky by the yellow moon that hung like an orange in a tree.” That literary sense of detail colors even the occasional throwaway like “Lee Remick,” a paean to the actress. Like the proverbial fine wine, Michael Smith just keeps getting better with age.
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