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Brian Blade
Mama Rosa
VERVE FORECAST B0012613
AAAA
Ruthie Foster
The Truth According
To Ruthie Foster
BLUE CORN MUSIC 70901
AAAA
Ruthie Foster’s career
arc has been in place
since the singer left the
Navy and got things
going in the mid-
1990s. That trajectory
peaks with her fifth
album. Her latest has a Southern soul slant,
though it’s a disservice here to assign this
searching Texan to one stylistic group or another
given her fluency in gospel, rock, blues, folk and
various hybrids. The Truth was recorded at
Ardent Studios in Memphis with local dignitaries
like Jim Dickinson, Wayne Jackson and
Charles Hodges. But the main man among her
supporting cast turns out to be a Californian,
Robben Ford, who shows again and again here
why he’s one of the best blues guitarists of his
generation.
Not about to fall into the trap of fixating on
the Memphis soul past, Foster relies on her
unusually strong and expressive voice to comment
on the power of love in modern times and
One can’t help but wonder
if Brian Blade’s many
years playing with all
kinds of musicians—not
just jazz musicians—
hasn’t played a major role
in the production of
Mama Rosa. For those
most familiar with Blade the drummer, this
one’s an ear-opener. Not only is there less drumming
than with previous efforts like his
Fellowship Band album Season Of Changes
(2008), but Mama Rosa (named for his grandmother)
is essentially a pop record. It’s Blade’s
first recording as a singer, guitarist and songwriter,
one that grew out of home demos he
worked on for years.
The prime singer is none other than Blade
himself, who also plays piano and acoustic guitar.
He also wrote practically everything here
and co-produced it. Daniel Lanois’ presence
(instrumentally on pedal steel, guitar, bass and
backup singing) may have had a hand in the
mannered, atmospheric vibe delivered with most
of the material. This is mood music that occasionally
rocks, and can haunt and inspire. It can
be soft and slightly ambient, with each song
gliding right into the next, yet somehow each
song manages to distinguish itself from the previous
one. Guest spots
include Fellowship members
bassist Chris Thomas
and pianist Jon Cowherd,
along with guitarist Kurt
Rosenwinkel, who plays on
the one cover, Milton
Nascimento’s spirited
“Faithful Brother” (with
words, additional music
and arrangement by Blade).
Blade has a smooth and
youthful voice. It carries
some heft with its distinction, and on some
tracks is blended with vocals from Lanois,
Kelly Jones, Daryl Johnson and the Silverlake
Male Chorus, which appears on the dreamy “At
The Centerline.” Greg Leisz on Weissenborn,
and pedal and lap steel guitars, and Patrick
Smith on pedal steel help give Mama Rosa an
alt-country feel.
Mama Rosa offers a study in understatement.
Including the otherworldly sonic-scape instrumentals
“All Gospel Radio” and “Psalms 100,”
it carries a quasi-religious feel at times, with a
road-song quality running through songs about
love, family and the need to connect.
—John Ephland
Mama Rosa: After The Revival; Mercy Angel; At The
Centerline; Faithful Brother; Get There; Second Home; You'll
Always Be My Baby; Nature’s Law; Struggling With That; All
That Was Yesterday; Her Song; All Gospel Radio; Psalms
100. (52:17)
»
Ordering info: verveforecast.com
the need to stay true to oneself
no matter what the crazy world
dishes out. She telegraphs the
affirmative messages of Patty
Griffin’s “When It Don’t Come
Easy” and country classic
“Hangin’ On” with striking
economy of effort. She digs to
the real grit of the album’s one
historic Memphis soul song,
“Nickel And A Nail.”
She’s gained in authority as
a songwriter. “Tears Of Pain”
is a rousing blues that’s a well-seasoned slice of
real life, and “Truth!” makes its point about
locating emotional honesty within oneself
through her sure delivery of the lyrics; Ford’s
guitar, with its nasty brusqueness, indicts insincere
communicants. Foster even manages to
impress when sizing up two Eric Bibb songs,
“Love In The Middle” and “Thanks For The
Joy,” that would come off as smiley face mush
in less discerning hands. —Frank-John Hadley
Jason Marsalis
Music Update
ELM 19788
AAAA 1 /2
Music Update explodes from its first track, a
short but intense drum number marked by a second-line
beat-driven call to attention. Jason
Marsalis sets the stage for the furthest-reaching
and most compelling album of his career.
Over the past eight years, Marsalis has turned
his attention to the vibraphone, with tremendous
results. His agility as a drummer and graceful
compositions are enhanced by his focus on
melodic percussion. He’s been playing with
overdubs since 1998’s “Discipline” on his first
album as a leader, The Year Of The Drummer.
Here, the so-called “percussion experiment”
theme expands. The overdubs widen their range
from uptempo and fun to romantic, Easterntinged
and even second-line-meets-disco.
The swinging “Discipline Mellows Out”
shows off the group’s softer side, and Marsalis
also explores Japanese Taiko drumming on
“Discipline Vacations In Asia.” The album closes
with a characteristically quirky take on the
concept—this time, adding a light ’70s groove
sensibility to the layers of dubbed drums and finishing
it off with “Discipline Spotted Baby And
Zutty At Studio 54.”
After the high-intensity kickoff tracks,
Marsalis, Austin Johnson (piano) and Will
Goble (bass) revisit classical with the almost
tongue-in-cheek carousel ride that is the sometimes
bluesy “Ballet Class.” Even the restrained,
swinging “Offbeat Personality” winks at
Marsalis’ idiosyncratic style with its title alone.
Beneath these layers, Marsalis’ technical precision
still shines through, both with complex
patterns and in the physicality of the music.
Ballads like “Durango Kid” benefit from
Marsalis’ gentle touch on the vibes.
The disc survives repeated plays, and at just
under an hour, its biggest drawback is that it’s
over too soon.
—Jennifer Odell
Music Update: Guess Who’s Back; Offbeat Personality; Ballet
Class; Discipline Returns Once Again; Characters; Blues For The
29%ers (Down To 19); Discipline Vacations In Asia; Midnight
Sun; Seven Come Eleven; Discipline Mellows Out; Durango Kid;
Western Vacation Ranch; Discipline Spotted Baby And Zutty At
Studio 54. (54:34)
Personnel: Jason Marsalis, vibraphone, drums; Austin Johnson,
piano; Will Goble, bass; David Potter, drums.
The Truth According To Ruthie Foster: Stone Love; I Really
Love You; When It Don’t Come Easy; (You Keep Me) Hangin’
On; Truth!; Love In The Middle; Nickel And A Nail; Dues Paid
In Full; Joy On The Other Side; Tears Of Pain; Thanks For The
Joy. (46:02)
» Ordering info: bluecornmusic.com
» Ordering info: jasonmarsalis.com
62 DOWNBEAT June 2009