Tracklist:
----------------------------------------------
01. Roll Away The Stone (4:50)
02. Sail The Jordan (6:04)
03. When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder (5:55)
04. Hosanna (8:52)
05. Without The Light (4:48)
06. Footprints (4:35)
07. Go There (4:22)
08. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (6:56)
09. Cypress Grove (6:44)
10. That's Alright (3:29)
11. Doxology (2:14)

---

Kelly Joe Phelps - 6 and 12 string lap slide guitars, 6 string conventional guitar

All songs recorded in my used to be a hotel now it's an apartment building apartment, between airplane take-offs and police sirens, deep in the winter of 1996, except "Cypress Grove" and "Go There" which were recorded in an empty house in Northeast Portland. Same Winter. Dave Schiffman engineered "Cypress Grove". Dale Lawrence supplied the house. Mixed at The Digs by Craig Carothers. Mastered by Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital, Southboro, MA. Production remains a mystery...

Phelps, a Washington State native who began as a jazz bassist, plays Delta-style country blues as well as anyone did in the '90s, but not just because so few did--he'd be a standout in the genre no matter the decade. ROLL AWAY THE STONE, only his second album, is startling in its deceptive simplicity. Playing acoustic lap-steel, six-string, and 12-string guitar, Phelps teases remarkable melodies out of the simplest notes. His songs are mostly originals, but they resonate like half-remembered Mississippi country-blues standards without sounding derivative in the least. From the full-bodied gospel moan of "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder" to the oblique, mysterious "Doxology," this is country blues at its finest.

Reviews:
Portland, Oregon resident Phelps is only the latest, and one of the best, of a whole new school of acoustic blues players (Keb' Mo', Alvin Youngblood Hart, Corey Harris, etc.). Though Phelps made his blues recording debut in 1995, and only recently came to the genre after a decade playing drums and piano and teaching jazz improvisation, he's near the head of the pack. He is blessed with a quicksilver slide-guitar tone (he plays lap-style), his throaty vocal approach may remind some of Chris Whitley's intimate early attack, and he writes solid original tunes that don't so much appropriate the blues form as adapt it to a contemporary compositional approach. Whether he's essaying his own work or such hoary country-blues warhorses as Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" or Skip James's "Cypress Grove," our Mr. Phelps proves that refreshing the acoustic blues tradition is no mission impossible.

If anything, Roll Away the Stone is an even better record than Kelly Joe Phelps' debut, Lead Me On. Phelps continues to grow as both a musician and songwriter, and his interpretations of classic blues songs show increased imagination. Although it's based in classic blues, this music doesn't sound ancient -- it sounds vital and alive, like any great music should.
                                   ~ Thom Owens, All Music Guide

---

         

Чтобы скачать данный материал или оставить комментарий Вам необходимо зарегистрироваться или войти на сайт под своим логином и паролем. [ Вход ] [ Регистрация ]

---

Не забывайте ставить оценки и комментировать материалы.
Ваше мнение и активность мотивирует к новым публикациям

---