**1/2 Alvin Youngblood Hart
START WITH THE SOUL
(Hannibal)
Fans of
Hart's gifted approach to acoustic blues may be disappointed by this ambitious
album, but he deserves praise for its scope and imagination -- and for his own
courage. At worst, the CD descends to bar-band hackery: the Jersey rock of
"Fightin' Hard" and a mediocre cover of the Cornelius Brothers & Sister
Rose's "Treat Her like a Lady" are hurdles. Yet they're countered by the
provocative, anti-racist roots rocker "Manos Arriba" and daring music like
"Once Again" -- which straddles the worlds of Tom Waits and B.B. King -- and
the edgy jazz instrumental "Porch Monkey." When Hart gets back to blues-ness,
it's in the prickly-riffed "A Prophet's Mission" -- a visionary reimagining of
Howlin' Wolf's signatures -- and the dirty-ass workout "Will I Ever Get Back
Home," a purer extraction of Mr. Burnett's style. There are other clunkers, but
Hart's knack for lyrics celebrating the pride and strength of the individual
man (African-Americans in particular) in the course of life's trials gives the
album a steely backbone. And his bag of electric guitar riffs, from Hendrix-ian
wah to grimy power chords, is satisfying.
--Ted Drozdowski
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