No Looking Back
While not as incisive or witty as some of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's other recordings,No Looking Backcontains the work of a mature artist, from the introspective lyrics of "Better Off with the Blues" and "My Own Prison" to the swinging fiddle on "Stop Time." Still, there's not quite enough of what makes Brown what he is; that is, one of the finest genre-bending players of our time. On the other hand, the material's solid, and the jazz jams of "Digging New Ground" and "C-Jam Blues" show that Brown's as at home in the jazz realm as in the blues. The only real misstep here is the pop duet "I Will Be Your Friend" with Michelle Shocked, which can only be described as odd.--Genevieve Williams