Mavis Staples’ new disc comes out September 14, 2010. Produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, “You Are Not Alone” and was recorded last winter in Chicago at Wilco’s The Loft studio and features the “smoking hot” (Tweedy quote in L.A. Times) RHB on every track. Here’s a little taste of the early reaction to the record…
“A joyful rejuvenation.” — L.A. Times (Todd Martens)
“The Wilco songwriter astutely put Staples in the studio with her current road band, which came on board after “We’ll Never Turn Back” was recorded: guitarist Rick Holmstrom, bassist Jeff Turmes and drummer Stephen Hodges. They let the arrangements simmer and give Staples plenty of space to move; Holmstrom inserts terse commentary with his precision guitar fills and the rhythm section swings just behind the beat in the fashion of the Muscle Shoals, Ala., pros who backed the Staples Singers on their greatest recordings…sums up what Staples has always been about: a voice of reassurance in troubled times.” — Chicago Tribune (Greg Kot)
More to come…