Opus 3 SACD Cat 19421

Author – Paul

A masterpiece of recording quality and spiritual blues in Eric Bibb’s own inimitable style.  The first thing to note about this recording is that it was recorded live with no overdubs, compression or post mixing.  This lends a palpable live atmosphere with great dynamic range to the music.  Why can’t all albums be recorded this way?
The album is a mix of traditional spiritual blues based on songs penned by Eric’s own hand, Woody Guthrie, the Rev Dan Smith.  Like most “Negro Spirituals”, known the world over for their engaging and melodic rhythm and harmonies, this album majors on engaging the listener and each of the performances have real energy and sincerity which only comes from the performers getting to grips with and obviously  enjoying recording sessions.
The traditional influences are clearly heard in each track from the traditional ballad melancholy of “In my Fathers House” through to the toe-tapping Mississippi Blues style with lead steel guitar of “Water Under the Bridge” which has a touch of Muddy Waters about it.  The mix and balance of songs, melodies and styles have a Spiritual blues theme running through all tracks but with a smattering of different Spiritual and Blues styles for which the album is all the better.

Bibb at his best.
Highly recommended