RUTH BROWN - Good day for the Blues

A mãe arquetípica do blues

....Ruth Brown (1928-2006) was a rhythm & blues singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress noted for bringing a pop music style to rhythm & blues music. Backed by a bevy of New Orleans jazz and soul vets, Brown delivers a series of horn-inflected, indigo ballads like "Never Let Me Go," "True," and "The Richest One" that unearth the blues with an unruffled dignity reminiscent of Nina Simone or a less fragile Billie Holiday. On most of the rest of the material, Brown invokes her Broadway experience to become the archetypal blues mama who "don't take no mess." In that vein, "H.B.'s Funky Fable" is a humorous talk-sung tale for kids of all ages, and "Cabbage Head" resurrects the minstrel-vaudeville days of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith with hilarious aplomb, as Brown nails the bawdy vernacular and trumpeter Abram Wilson spools out brassy asides that evoke the period perfectly.