10/1/2005

Nicholas de Leeuw

Fresh and inventive. Ms. Flower is a wonderful ragtime-styled guitar picker and a fine singer, but makes this acoustic album come alive is the interplay with the New Orleans-based backing musicians. On the instrumental Raise the Devil (2) it’s just her lap-slide guitar and Jon Cleary’s piano, but between them they create an enveloping musical space. On Brother, Can You Spare a Dime (8), a horn trio creates the depression-era atmosphere. Leroy Carr’s Papa’s on the Housetop (9) is a playful romp with Henry Butler taking the 88s. Dr. Michael White lends his sweet clarinet to Terminal Rag (7) and Main Street Blues (12). This album was recorded in May, 2005 and now will serve as a tribute to the musical hospitality that a pre-Katrina New Orleans could offer to an out of town musician. I hope in time Ms. Flowers can return for a post-Katrina session.