Gentle Spirit

Gentle Spirit is the first official studio album released by Los Angeles artist Jonathan Wilson. It was released in the United Kingdom and Europe on August 8, 2011, and in the United States on September 13, 2011, on Bella Union and received the No. 4 spot on Mojo Magazine's 2011 Best of Albums of the Year. The album was recorded at Wilson's former studio in Laurel Canyon and mixed at his new studio in Echo Park. Overview Wilson crafted the album at his former studio, Canyonstereo, in Laurel Canyon between tours, album producer jobs, recording sessions and jams, a period in which Wilson collaborated with the likes of Elvis Costello, Chris Robinson, Phil Lesh, Erykah Badu, Benmont Tench, Gary Louris, Vetiver, Dawes and many other notable musicians. While the album was started a few years earlier, Wilson chose not to release Gentle Spirit until 2011. As a result, Gentle Spirit traded among Wilson's friends and family on sharpie-labeled CDRs for several years and in the process, built a large underground following that included many notable musicians, including Jackson Browne, Robbie Robertson and Elvis Costello. As journalist Martin Aston notes in his BBC Music review, "Wilson may be a new name to us but to the cognoscenti of America's alt-roots scene he's a mover and shaker." Not until Wilson was introduced to Simon Raymonde and Bella Union, did he decide to officially release the album.