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By Mark Kemp (Rollingstone) rate 4/5
This isn't just B.B. King's best album in years, it's one of the strongest studio sets of his career, standing alongside classics such as Singin' the Blues and Lucille. Where those early titles highlighted his youthful, wailing vocals and stinging guitar, this one plays to King's current strengths: the tear-stained vibrato of his mature voice, punctuated by raunchy licks. For too long, King has drowned in slick production, propped up by stiff duets with the likes of Eric Clapton. Here, King is front and center, with a killer backing band — Jim Keltner (John Lennon, Mick Jagger) on drums, Nathan East (Clapton) on stand-up bass and Dr. John on piano — that remains in the background. King is heartbreakingly intimate on standards like Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and Leroy Carr's "Blues Before Sunrise." How did the 82-year-old find his old passion? With T Bone Burnett, naturally — the producer whose understated touch helped bring Robert Plant and John Mellencamp into their twilight years with dignity. Those projects were mere dress rehearsals for this one.
Review By Rashod D. Ollison:
Sixty years after he added innovative, sophisticated textures to the blues, while helping to lay the foundation for rock along the way, B.B. King remains the most visible and celebrated figure of the genre.
On One Kind Favor, King's new CD in stores today, he's certainly not trying to compete with artists young enough to be his grandkids. With production help from T-Bone Burnett, whose clients include Cassandra Wilson, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, King pays homage to those who paved the way for him. Sort of.
One Kind Favor isn't exactly a tribute album, but it brims with songs by such blues masters as Lemon Jefferson, Chester Burnett and T-Bone Walker - artists whose works have had an impact on King.
Surrounded by a rhythm section made up of New Orleans piano great Dr. John, bassist Nathan East and drummer Jim Keltner, King recorded the 12 cuts live in the studio. Still, something about the album feels slightly tentative - and a bit cluttered in spots. King roars mightily for a man past 80, but he's mostly underserved by arrangements that fail to generate much of a spark. And the stinging wails and moans of Lucille, his famed guitar, should have been pushed up more in the mix.
The CD kicks off with a touch of funky morbidity: "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean." King's vocals, slightly frayed around the edges these days, lay comfortably in the groove. It's one of the finest cuts on the album.
King shows himself to be in good shape vocally. He can't quite blow the doors off as he did on "Sweet Sixteen" and "The Thrill Is Gone." But he still makes enduring music, given the right surroundings. One Kind Favor is a pleasant, if unremarkable, stroll through yesterday.
Track List:
* See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
* I Get So Weary
* Get These Blues Off Me
* How Many More Years
* Waiting For Your Call
* My Love Is Down
* The World Is Gone Wrong
* Blues Before Sunrise
* Midnight Blues
* Backwater Blues
* Sitting On Top Of The World
* Tomorrow Night
By Mark Kemp (Rollingstone) rate 4/5
This isn't just B.B. King's best album in years, it's one of the strongest studio sets of his career, standing alongside classics such as Singin' the Blues and Lucille. Where those early titles highlighted his youthful, wailing vocals and stinging guitar, this one plays to King's current strengths: the tear-stained vibrato of his mature voice, punctuated by raunchy licks. For too long, King has drowned in slick production, propped up by stiff duets with the likes of Eric Clapton. Here, King is front and center, with a killer backing band — Jim Keltner (John Lennon, Mick Jagger) on drums, Nathan East (Clapton) on stand-up bass and Dr. John on piano — that remains in the background. King is heartbreakingly intimate on standards like Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and Leroy Carr's "Blues Before Sunrise." How did the 82-year-old find his old passion? With T Bone Burnett, naturally — the producer whose understated touch helped bring Robert Plant and John Mellencamp into their twilight years with dignity. Those projects were mere dress rehearsals for this one.
Review By Rashod D. Ollison:
Sixty years after he added innovative, sophisticated textures to the blues, while helping to lay the foundation for rock along the way, B.B. King remains the most visible and celebrated figure of the genre.
On One Kind Favor, King's new CD in stores today, he's certainly not trying to compete with artists young enough to be his grandkids. With production help from T-Bone Burnett, whose clients include Cassandra Wilson, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, King pays homage to those who paved the way for him. Sort of.
One Kind Favor isn't exactly a tribute album, but it brims with songs by such blues masters as Lemon Jefferson, Chester Burnett and T-Bone Walker - artists whose works have had an impact on King.
Surrounded by a rhythm section made up of New Orleans piano great Dr. John, bassist Nathan East and drummer Jim Keltner, King recorded the 12 cuts live in the studio. Still, something about the album feels slightly tentative - and a bit cluttered in spots. King roars mightily for a man past 80, but he's mostly underserved by arrangements that fail to generate much of a spark. And the stinging wails and moans of Lucille, his famed guitar, should have been pushed up more in the mix.
The CD kicks off with a touch of funky morbidity: "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean." King's vocals, slightly frayed around the edges these days, lay comfortably in the groove. It's one of the finest cuts on the album.
King shows himself to be in good shape vocally. He can't quite blow the doors off as he did on "Sweet Sixteen" and "The Thrill Is Gone." But he still makes enduring music, given the right surroundings. One Kind Favor is a pleasant, if unremarkable, stroll through yesterday.
Track List:
* See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
* I Get So Weary
* Get These Blues Off Me
* How Many More Years
* Waiting For Your Call
* My Love Is Down
* The World Is Gone Wrong
* Blues Before Sunrise
* Midnight Blues
* Backwater Blues
* Sitting On Top Of The World
* Tomorrow Night