Eden
Brent - Mississippi Number One
Yellow Dog Records
www.edenbrent.com
15 songs; 57:32 minutes;
Suggested
Genre: Piano Blues, Jazz,
Rhythm & Blues, and Soul
Dear Skyy,
What’s a guy to do? I’ve got rocking
pneumonia, but no boogie-woogie blues! Late last night as I was
trying to get my baby comfortable, I put on a new CD that was
supposed to be blues. But, it was just more rock being passed off as
blues. You know, one ponderous screaming guitar solo after another
just didn’t strike the mood for which I was desperately searching. I
was looking for...well, never mind what I was looking for. Rest
assured, I didn’t find it. Can you help?
Sincerely,
Lance Hardwood
Lance,
Too bad you did not have Eden Brent’s
debut release (second overall) on Yellow Dog Records, Mississippi
Number One. Here you can find piano in the lead with nary a
harsh note from accompanying guitars, harmonica, and horns. Eden
Brent’s singing voice ranges from melancholic whisper to sultry
sexy to soul wailing, and the songs vary from slow blues to jazzy
bounce to gospel soul to flat out boogie-woogie. Get this CD, and
you’ll get in the groove.
Skyy
Mississippi born and bred (a native of
Greenville MS), Eden Brent has proven her merit over and over from
performing internationally to sharing a bill with BB King at the
2005 Presidential Inauguration to winning the 2006 International
Blues Challenge Solo/Duo division. She is a self-described "song
interpreter," and her interpretations of jazz, blues, soul and pop
are expressive and memorable. This album reveals she is also a
gifted songwriter of her own originals. In a heady move, Dawn
Hopkins of Blue Eyed Bitches Productions fame was brought in to
co-produce with Brent.
Brent enjoyed a sixteen-year apprenticeship
with duo partner, the late Abie “Boogaloo” Ames (1918 - 2002), who
dubbed her "Little Boogaloo." Although she achieved a Bachelor of
Music from the University of North Texas, Brent credits Ames with
teaching her to play piano. "Music school taught me to think, but
Boogaloo taught me to boogie-woogie," she says. Together with Ames,
Brent starred in the 1999 television documentary, Boogaloo &
Eden: Sustaining the Sound. The award-winning feature, which
aired nationally on PBS affiliates, explored the bond between mentor
and protégé.
Of the title track (and album), Brent writes,
“Mississippi Number One began as a solo record in April 2006 and is
a tribute to my home and its blues highway, Mississippi State
Highway 1, which is less traveled but follows the original blues
highway, the Mississippi River, much more devotedly than its
parallel neighbor, US Highway 61. Over the trio of piano, bass, and
drums, she sings, “It’s the last of the blues highways / I recommend
it if you have the time / It won’t get you there in a hurry / But
you’re sure to have a lot of fun.”
The CD kicks off with an energetic two fisted
keyboard workout backed by Jimmi Kinard on bass and James Robertson
on drums. The music is ironically rousing in wake of the theme of
economic loss in the delta region written by her mother Carole
Brent. That despair has appeared in more than one artist’s song, but
the pain is no less. “I got the Washington County / My factory done
shut down blues,” Eden sings with first hand knowledge.
Standouts include Brent solo on piano breathily
singing “Why Don’t You Do Right” popularized by Peggy Lee, the
bouncy “Fried Chicken” by Greenville’s Jimmy Phillips
accompanied
only by Rick Chancey’s guitar and harmonica, the silky smooth song -
another penned by her mother Carole Brent - “love Me ‘Til Dawn,” and
Eden’s own powerful Gospel closer with full choir (including Reba
Russell), “Until I Die.”
The only misstep I found is an attempt to
make-it-her-own” on the song “Trouble In Mind.” Artists often
arrange a cover song to give it a fresh sound, but here the pacing
is disjointed. This has always been one of my favorite songs, but
while the music sounds great, the vocal delivery has the lines
coming out stutter spaced instead of smoothly read.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Eden Brent live at
the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival where she proved to be a first
class entertainer. This CD is a clear reflection of her well
developed live talent and a showcase of an expert growth into her
own songwriting.
Reviewer James
“Skyy Dobro” Walker
is a noted Blues writer, DJ and Blues Blast
contributor.
His weekly radio show “Friends of the Blues” can be heard each
Thursday from 4:30 – 6:00pm
on WKCC 91.1 FM in Kankakee, IL
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