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Mississippi Son
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Mississippi Son
Current price: $20.99
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Barnes and Noble
Mississippi Son
Current price: $20.99
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With 2010's
,
returned to Chicago's
after a 14-year absence to release what was then his most autobiographical album to date. For over a decade he issued homegrown projects on his
label, including 2012's
and two dates with
(2012's Grammy-winning
and 2018's
). He cut the Grammy-nominated
with
. All these records travel a labyrinthine path to
.
Recorded in Clarksdale, Mississippi -- he was born in Kosciusko, and moved to Clarksdale after decades elsewhere -- it features eight originals and six covers offering a portrait of life as a bluesman. He leads a trio with drummer
and upright bassist
on several tunes, while the rest is performed solo.
plays harmonica and sings, but for the first time since 2006's
, he plays guitar throughout.
Co-produced by
and wife
is humid and swampy, it rolls rather than rocks.
's guitar-playing style is reflected beautifully in opener "Blues Up the River" -- loose, slippery, and subtle. Things get a bit woolier on a reading of
's "Hobo Blues."
reflects
's immortal version with a simmering, sinister, groove. "In Your Darkest Hour" is a paean of personal redemption via the power of love, offered solo to an individual during a time of difficulty. He lightens the mood for "Stingaree," another solo track. His road-weary baritone flows atop harmonica and guitar lines, expressing his devotion to the beloved: "She might not sting for you/but she's always buzzin' me...." On the solo instrumental "Remembering Big Joe,"
plays the guitar of his late friend,
, and renders two sides of the Delta blues in his choogling read of
's "Pea Vine Blues" with the band, and a sensual version of
's immortal "Crawling King Snake."
is a canny songwriter, able to relate his entire autobiography in a two-minute, shuffling, electric country blues. The band grooves under one of the most poignant lines in this history of blues poetry: "Blues tells the truth in a world that's full of lies...." He counters with the shadow side of that identity on the harrowing "My Road Lies in Darkness," and pulls out a slide for a deep blue read of the
' high lonesome folk song "Rank Strangers." Closer "A Voice Foretold" is a haunting blues spiritual written by playwright/lyricist
and pianist/composer
for their play The Gospel at Colonus. It's a prophetic look into the face of death and doesn't flinch. In his laconic Southern drawl,
sings with acceptance, placing his hope in a loving, merciful God. The bookend to the journey he began with
is an unromanticized testament to living the blues and sounds like it came from the soil. As such, it's a late-period masterpiece. ~ Thom Jurek