Joan Baby
Long Tall Sassy
(Princess Records)
Joan Baby's new CD is a fine
effort! I was pleased to meet Joan briefly last Oct. when she played much
of the late-afternoon and night at Robert Ealey's 1999 Ft. Worth Blues
Festival in Downtown Ft. Worth (SWB - Nov. '99). I felt strongly at the
time that I was going to like this CD and listening to it since then has
proven my hunch correct. This woman can really sing and she is a fine bass
player as well; as good as any I've heard in recent years!
I like the mix
of the 10 tunes on this album as it balances classic covers like
"Little Red Rooster," "Cheaper To Keep Her,"
"Queen Bee," "I'm Ready" and "Little Bit"
with her originals "Groove Thing" and "Trouble with a
Capital T." The other three songs include "Destination
Blues," "In My Dreams" and "Smoke Stack Lightnin'."
The CD opens with "Groove Thing" a funky R&B oriented blues
tune and segues into Joan's sultry version of "Smoke Stack Lightnin'."
In Smoke Stack, Billy Branch blows some fine harp in counterpoint to the
guitar work of James Henderson (Rhythm) and Michael Coleman (Guitar). The
classic "I'm Ready" is next and Joan's Chicago background shows
through in this funkified version of the song. In particular Michael
Coleman's guitar work stands out, as does the smooth work of the Ohio
Players Horn Section who join Joan on several tunes. Joan handles all of
the tunes very well but in particular, her version of "Little Red
Rooster" jumps off the disc at me.
I put it up there approaching the
likes of Big Mama Thornton's version and for me that's saying a lot
because I love Big Mama's work. Here again Michael Coleman's guitar work
shines as he chicken plucks and picks his way through the song. Overall,
the musicians here with Joan Baby are all first-rate players and evoke a
wide variety of feelings and memories of other great players while
maintaining a fresh and distinct sound of their own. Joan Baby wails on
this CD and you are definitely missing out if you don't add this record to
your collection of blues albums by younger artists who may well become
members of the next generation of blues greats.
- Jim Wells -
Southwest Blues CD Review - March 2000
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