Tomorrow Is My Turn

by Rhiannon Giddens

Overview

Stepping away from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Rhiannon Giddens teams up with producer T-Bone Burnett for her 2015 solo debut, Tomorrow Is My Turn. Giddens previously worked with Burnett on Lost on the River, an album where musicians added new music to lyrics Bob Dylan left behind during The Basement Tapes, and she also appeared in a concert he shepherded for the Coen brothers' folk revival opus Inside Llewyn Davis -- two projects steeped in history, as is Tomorrow Is My Turn. Here, Giddens expands upon the neo-string band of the Carolina Chocolate Drops by crafting an abbreviated and fluid history of 20th century roots music -- along with the older forms that informed it -- concentrating on songs either written or popularized by female musicians. As a torchbearer, not a revivalist, Giddins isn't concerned with replicating either the sound or feel of the past, so she comfortably slips a subdued hip-hop drum loop into "Black Is the Color," a standard here credited to Nina Simone, and blurs country and soul boundaries on Patsy Cline's "She's Got You." These two are the most overt tamperings with tradition but Giddens is sly throughout Tomorrow Is My Turn, giving Elizabeth Cotten's "Shake Sugaree" a deceptively lively little lilt and casting Dolly Parton's "Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind" as a rolling progressive folk tune that creates an invisible bridge between past and present. Much of Giddens' work on Tomorrow Is My Turn demonstrates the benefits of such careful, deliberate sculpting, making it a nice fit for Burnett's handsome acoustica. Thankfully, the austereness that sometimes creeps into T-Bone's new millennial work is nowhere to be found; there's a warmth that radiates from Giddens, which is crucial to the success of the record. Her easy, welcoming touch is a balm every time Tomorrow Is My Turn is played, but it's upon successive spins that the intricacies of Giddens' construction -- not to mention her subtle political messages -- begin to take hold. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	03/03/2015
Label:	Nonesuch
UPC:	0075597954289

Tracks

1. Last Kind Words
2. Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind
3. Waterboy
4. She's Got You
5. Up Above My Head
6. Tomorrow Is My Turn
7. Black Is the Color
8. Round About the Mountain
9. Shake Sugaree
10. O Love Is Teasin'
11. Angel City

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rhiannon Giddens   Primary Artist,Vocals
Tata Vega   Vocals (Background)
Dennis Crouch   Bass,Bass (Acoustic)
Colin Linden   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Keefus Ciancia   Keyboards
Gabe Witcher   Viola,Fiddle,Violin,Guitar (Acoustic)
Joe Sublett   Sax (Tenor)
Mike Bub   Bass (Acoustic)
Tom Peterson   Sax (Baritone)
Darrell Leonard   Trumpet
Noam Pikelny   Banjo
T-Bone Burnett   Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic)
Jim Thompson   Sax (Tenor)
Jay Bellerose   Drums,Percussion
Jack Ashford   Tambourine
Mike Compton   Mandolin
Paul Kowert   Bass (Acoustic)
Adam Matta   Beatbox
Jean Witherspoon   Vocals (Background)
Lester Lovitt   Trumpet
Jon Batiste   Melodica
Hubby Jenkins   Banjo,Guitar (Acoustic)
Richard Dodd   Cello

Technical Credits

Sister Rosetta Tharpe   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Gabe Witcher   Horn Arrangements,String Arrangements
Dolly Parton   Composer
Geeshie Wiley   Composer
Gavin Lurssen   Mastering
Roland Hayes   Arranger
Mike Piersante   Engineer
Rhiannon Giddens   Arranger,Composer
T-Bone Burnett   Producer
Elizabeth Cotten   Composer
Charles Aznavour   Composer
Vanessa Parr   Engineer
Hank Cochran   Composer
Marcel Stellman   Composer
Jason Wormer   Mixing,Engineer
Ivy Skoff   Production Coordination
Yves Stephane   Composer
Jacques Wolfe   Composer
Doyle Partners   Design
Dan Winters   Photography
Zachary Dawes   Equipment Technician
Chris Wilkinson   Engineer