Good Day for the Blues
Now in the third or fourth stage of her indefatigable career, the 71-year-old Ruth Brown settles further into the two-pronged, stylistic groove established on her 1997 Bullseye debut,R+B=Ruth Brown. Backed by a bevy of New Orleans jazz and soul vets, Brown delivers a series of horn-inflected, indigo ballads like "Never Let Me Go," "True," and "The Richest One" that unearth the blues with an unruffled dignity reminiscent ofNina Simoneor a less fragileBillie Holiday. On most of the rest of the material, Brown invokes her Broadway experience to become the archetypal blues mama who "don't take no mess." In that vein, "H.B.'s Funky Fable" is a humorous talk-sung tale for kids of all ages, and "Cabbage Head" resurrects the minstrel-vaudeville days ofMa RaineyandBessie Smithwith hilarious aplomb, as Brown nails the bawdy vernacular and trumpeter Abram Wilson spools out brassy asides that evoke the period perfectly. By the end of thisGood Day, Brown proves she can inject gospel substance even into such Disney piffle as R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly."--Britt Robson