Voice of the Wetlands
Telecaster-slinging South Louisiana native Tab Benoit is one of the brightest rising stars of contemporary blues. But he's stepped outside that promising career here, gathering a stellar ensemble of fellow New Orleans musicians (including N.O. legendsDr. John,Cyril Neville,Metersbass player George Porter, Jr., fellow bluesmanAnders Osborneand fiddlerWaylon Thibodeaux) to forge a musical plea about the fragile eco-system that is the increasingly depleted wetlands surrounding their hometown. But in the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, the chorus of the otherwise savory, funk-charged opener "Bayou Breeze"--"Don't let the water wash us away"--now seems like a haunting, unheeded warning recorded eight months before disaster struck. Elsewhere, Dr. John injects some potent venom into "We Ain't Gonna Lose No More (Without a Fight)," taking to task an administration that's ignored the urgent needs of his homeland in favor of misadventure in Iraq. While songs like "Louisiana Sunshine" continue to focus largely on environmental concerns that grow more urgent with every tropical storm that gathers in the Gulf, it's also an album rife with New Orleans' cross-cultural musicaljoie de vivre, as witnessed by Benoit and Osborne's Cajun-seasoned "We Make a Good Gumbo" and the slinky African rhythms ofMonk Boudreaux's"Me Donkey Want Water." Proceeds from the album's sales support a relief fund benefiting Louisiana victims of Katrina.--Jerry McCulley