Etta James

Item: Matriarch of the Blues
Author: Zik Jackson

Matriarch of the Blues

(2000)

Reviewed by Zik Jackson

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label Private MusicThe Phantom TollboothDecember 2000

blues r&b soul

When a legendary singer releases a collection of legendary songs, the listener is in for a treat. Jazz fans and lovers of great music and emotive singing will not be disappointed with the newest CD from Etta James, titled Matriarch of the Blues on Windham Hill's Private Music label. Drawing from over 45 years of experience in singing jazz and the blues, Ms. James exhibits a maturity and experience that shines through the musical haze of bluesy B-3 organs, saucy Les Paul guitars, and funky brass with "'tude."

From the opening track, "Gotta Serve Somebody" by Bob Dylan, James sets a tone for the whole recording, matching poignant lyrics with a snappy backdrop of rhythm, brass, organs, and vocals. The tone is classic blues, singing of love lost and found, then lost again. The pining, "Hawg for Ya" says "I'm a hawg for ya, baby / Gonna root all 'round your door," while the one-four-five chord structure of the genre thumps its message home. Other highlights are Al Green's "Rhymes," a toe-tapping, head-bobbing jam with funky horns and a solid beat, and Creedence Clearwater's "Born On the Bayou."

James' meaty voice is surrounded by skilled musicians playing tightly together, yet with enough improvisation and riffing to add plenty of flavor. One can vividly imagine a smoky club in Memphis with patrons crying their own blues into their drinks throughout the show. It is a bittersweet combination, such talented presentation of such sorrowful emotion, but that is the mystique of good blues music.

Matriarch of the Blues compares favorably with Glenn Kaiser Band's Winter Sun for those who like a straight-up-no-chaser blues sound, but lyrically may be a little too strong for newcomers to the genre. The lyrics are spiritual in the emotional sense, and not meant to convey theology in the traditional sense. This is a woman singing her heart out, broken though it may be. It will connect with the listener, and combined with the full sound of the band will transport you to another time and place.