Hope & Desire
The sweet, husky mix of sugar and sandpaper in two-time Grammy nominee Susan Tedeschi's voice breathes sultry life into the art of classic soul singing onHope and Desire, her fourth album. It's somewhat disappointing that she's chosen to defer her own songwriting in favor of classics and obscurities by Ray Charles ("Tired of My Tears"), Dylan ("Lord Protect My Child"), the Rolling Stones ("You Got the Silver"), and others. She's also left her guitar at home, assigning the exceptional playing to Clapton sideman Doyle Bramhall, Jr., and her husband, the Allman Brothers' Derek Trucks. But it's thrilling how Tedeschi applies her gospel-trained vocalizing to these 12 numbers, all tales of hope and desire, delivered at an unhurried pace so the delicate filigrees of her phrasing make them resonate with absolute emotional conviction. By the time the album closes with the gut-bucket blues "The Dangerzone," Teseschi's easily made the case for her third Grammy nod.--Ted Drozdowski