Down in New Orleans

( 2 )

Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble
With a couple of centuries of experience between them and repeated appearances at the Jazz and Heritage Festival, it's surprising that Down in New Orleans marks the first time The Blind Boys have ever recorded in the Crescent City. Backed by a loose-limbed trio of locals (David Torkanowsky on piano, Roland Guerin on bass, and Shannon Powell on drums), the Boys welcome guests including Allen Toussaint, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and The Hot 8 Brass Band.
All Music Guide - Steve Leggett
The Blind Boys of Alabama, who originally formed back in 1939, have had an amazing seven-decade career, one that has seen them release their own brand of ...
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Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble
With a couple of centuries of experience between them and repeated appearances at the Jazz and Heritage Festival, it's surprising that Down in New Orleans marks the first time The Blind Boys have ever recorded in the Crescent City. Backed by a loose-limbed trio of locals (David Torkanowsky on piano, Roland Guerin on bass, and Shannon Powell on drums), the Boys welcome guests including Allen Toussaint, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and The Hot 8 Brass Band.
All Music Guide - Steve Leggett
The Blind Boys of Alabama, who originally formed back in 1939, have had an amazing seven-decade career, one that has seen them release their own brand of gospel on every possible medium the history of recording has to offer, from 78s and LPs to eight-track tapes, cassettes, and CDs, and the consistency of their sound and approach through all of this makes them a venerable national treasure. What's even more telling is that their newest album, the Chris Goldsmith-produced Down in New Orleans, is one of the best the Blind Boys have ever done. Led by original member Jimmy Carter, whose raspy voice has aged into an expressive, earthy delight, the Blind Boys take a Crescent City route here, working with veteran New Orleans musicians like the legendary Allen Toussaint and a solid, push-and-pull rhythm section of David Torkanowski (piano), Roland Guerin (bass), and Shannon Powell (drums) with help from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Hot 8 Brass Band. The result has a joyous, lightly funky feel that reaches back into the long history of traditional Southern gospel even as it updates that tradition with some well-chosen and spiritually compatible secular material. The opener, a version of the old chestnut "Free at Last," swings in exactly the right way, emerging as a lightly funky reaffirmation of everything the Blind Boys have always stood for, and truthfully, everything here has that tone and feel, even though the group tackles a wide variety of songs, including Earl King's "Make a Better World," a pair of songs associated with the great Mahalia Jackson, "If I Could Help Somebody" (featuring Toussaint on piano) and "How I Got Over," country crooner Jim Reeves' "Across the Bridge," and Curtis Mayfield's "A Prayer." Given that New Orleans soulfulness that Crescent City musicians seem to deliver as easily as drawing breath, Down in New Orleans is a sheer delight, uplifting and funky and full of a rare kind of joy. One could say welcome back Blind Boys of Alabama, but these guys have been doing this all along, and that they can deliver one of their best albums 70-some years into their career is nothing short of amazing. Better to burn out than fade away? Don't tell these guys that. They're a testament to the fact that you don't need to do either of those things. You can instead just go out and make great music over and over again.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 1/29/2008
  • Label: Time Life Records
  • UPC: 610583224726
  • Catalog Number: 19548
  • Sales rank: 47,548

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Free at Last (3:32)
  2. 2 Make a Better World - The Hot 8 Brass Band (3:18)
  3. 3 How I Got Over (5:03)
  4. 4 You Got to Move (3:35)
  5. 5 Across the Bridge (3:41)
  6. 6 You Better Mind (3:49)
  7. 7 Down by the Riverside (3:51)
  8. 8 If I Could Help Somebody (2:28)
  9. 9 Uncloudy Day (2:55)
  10. 10 A Prayer (3:30)
  11. 11 I've Got a Home (2:51)
  12. 12 I'll Fly Away - The Hot 8 Brass Band (4:27)
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Album Credits

Performance Credits
Five Blind Boys of Alabama Primary Artist, Indexed Contributor
David Torkanowsky Piano, Keyboards, Hammond Organ
John Gilbert Tenor Saxophone, Guest Appearance
John Brunious Trumpet, Guest Appearance
Keith Anderson Trombone, Guest Appearance
Tyrus Chapman Trombone, Guest Appearance
Jerome Jones Trombone, Guest Appearance
Carl LeBlanc Banjo, Guest Appearance
Shannon Powell Drums
Allen Toussaint Piano, Guest Appearance
Billy Bowers Vocals, Group Member
Benjamin Jaffe Tuba, Guest Appearance
Ben Moore Vocals
Darryl Adams Alto Saxophone, Guest Appearance
Ralph Boyd Johnson Clarinet, Guest Appearance
Raymond "Taff" Williams Trumpet, Guest Appearance
Caleb Butler Vocals, Group Member
Harry Cook Bass Drums, Guest Appearance
Joey Williams Vocals, Group Member
Tracy Pierce Vocals, Group Member
Sammy Cyrus Snare Drums, Guest Appearance
Ronald Guerin Electric Bass, Upright Bass
The Hot 8 Brass Band Guest Appearance
Alvarez Huntley Trumpet, Guest Appearance
Eric "Ricky" McKinnie Vocals, Group Member
Ben Moore Group Member
Bennie Pete Tuba, Guest Appearance
Jimmy Carter Vocals, Group Member
Technical Credits
Earl King Composer
Marion Williams Composer
Chris Clark Artwork, Cover Art
Jimmy Hoyson Engineer
Ben Sandmel Liner Notes
Albert E. Brumley Composer
Gavin Lurssen Mastering
David Gorman Cover Design
Chris Goldsmith Arranger, Producer, Audio Production
Traditional Composer
Mike Jason Executive Producer
Paul "Scooby" Smith Engineer
Wesley Fontenot Engineer
Charles Driebe Executive Producer
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Customer Reviews

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( 2 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    It was OK

    It wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be - got a little bit too repeticious.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 10, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews