10/26/2005

Greg Hughes

Portland based acoustic blues picker Mary Flower goes to the crossroads of blues, folk & New Orleans jazz on her latest offering. Backed by some of New Orleans’ best, including piano wizard Henry Butler, Jon Cleary, & Dr. Michael White, she combines deft fingerpicking & sultry slide playing with the funky textures of her backing musicians. There's lots of variety here. She does an eerie take on Geechie Wiley's "Last Kind Word Blues", shows off some tasty slide work on "Raise the Devil", & delivers some elegant fingerpicking on her own "Hudson River Rag". Her guitar playing is precise but funky, not surprising coming from the only woman to twice finish in the top three at the National Fingerpicking Championship. Forgoing the put-on growl of some blues singers, she sings in her own warm voice and it works! The New Orleans musicians add much to the music. Henry Butler's piano on "Papa's On the Housetop" is just right and little bits of sousaphone & clarinet crop up throughout the disc to add flavors to the musical gumbo without distracting from Flower's lead presence. Like New Orleans food, this is tasty stuff. Highly recommended!