Ed Alstrom – This Idea Of Humanity…
Haywire – 2026
14 tracks; 54 minutes
Ed Alstrom may be a latecomer to the blues world but he is wasting no time with his second release in a year, following 2025’s Flee Though None Pursue. An accomplished organ player who has, for over twenty years, played at baseball’s Yankee Stadium, Ed plays all the keyboards on this disc, accompanied by Suzuki Andes who plays bass, guitar and drums on most tracks; Don Guinta takes over on drums on four tracks, Ed’s childhood friend Jimmy Vivino sings on one track and adds guitar to another, Ula Hedwig adds backing vocals to four tracks, Maxine Alstrom to one and Meredith Greenberg to one on which she also plays djembe. Ed wrote all the material, produced and recorded the album and sings.
Instrumentally the album tends towards a jazzy style with keyboards the main solo instrument, be it organ, piano, clavinet, synth or melodica, the latter notably featured on the uptempo “Nothing Good To Say”. Opener “Put You First” has some great piano and gospel backing vocals from Ula as Ed declares that he intends to “put us first so we can make it last”. Guitar is evident on the uptempo stomper about Ed’s now chosen career “All I’m Gonna Do is play the blues”. The title of the album comes from the track “Humans”, Ed rather cynically declaring that “I love the idea of humanity, it’s these humans I just can’t tolerate”. “Bridesmaid” takes that old phrase about never being the bride as Ed bemoans his fate in romantic matters, one of several tracks that display his sense of humor, also in evidence on “Party Planner” on which he shares the vocals with Jimmy Vivino in a soulful duet: “I say hey, party planner, plan a party for me, I’m rid of this woman and I’m as happy as I can be”.
Ed adopts a laid back vocal style on the blues ballad “Understanding”, brushed drums and piano behind him, but whatever happens “Blues Keep Coming Back”, a tune that brought Bruce Hornsby to mind to these ears. Ed’s piano adopts a sprightly rhythm on “Go Ahead” as he also adds a lively organ solo before additional percussion gives a Latin edge to the “Inquiring Minds that demand to know”. Jimmy Vivino’s greasy slide adds a Delta feel to “The Way Back” and Ed plays some furious, cascading runs on piano on “Got To Stop”, one of the best tracks here. “So Hard” is a stop-start piece of Rn’R and makes a sharp contrast with the ethereal vocals of Meredith Greenberg on “Worry”, a slow tune with rather pessimistic lyrics about life: “Don’t worry about the world, it may all be over soon”.
Ed’s music is a sharp contrast to much of the guitar-oriented music we hear, so if you fancy an emphasis on keyboards and songs with thoughtful lyrics, this may be one to seek out.
