Have A Little Faith
As the lead female voice of family gospel band theStaple Singers, Mavis Staples has shown more than a little faith across four decades, using her voice as a powerful instrument in the battle for civil rights and the eternal struggle for salvation (as well as pop hits). Here, on her first CD of new material since 1993'sPrince-producedThe Voice, the 64-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer seems relaxed. That's why acoustic treatments of tunes like "Step Into the Light" and theBlind Lemon Jeffersontribute "A Dying Man's Plea" sound so good wrapped around her warm honey-and-grits tones, with slide guitars and fiddles following the easy flow of her melodies. Nonetheless, there's a simmering intensity to her performances, though she eases for sweet recollections in the uplifting biography of her late father Roebuck, "Pop's Recipe." Yet Staples always remains strong enough to render the disc's overabundance of lite-funk arrangements irrelevant.--Ted Drozdowski