Sunday Funnies & Arts

As always, click to enlarge...

The Listening Room:

Kickin In My Stall, Kenny Bill Stinson. Although he specifically invokes Hank Williams and Jerry Lee Lewis, it's the spirit of John Lennon that infuses this rollicking set of ten country rockers and downright, down home rockers. Stinson's guitar breaks are a joy and the equal of his songwriting, which finds its best expression in remembrances of his mother's love of music ("Rhinstones and Butterflies") and of his own musical influences ("Turn Me On Dead Man"). Available from the Louisiana Music Factory.

What Have You Done, My Brother?, Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens. Gospel music from so deep in Shelton's southern soul that it edges up against James Brown and Wilson Pickett. Shelton's career has taken her from the chitlin' circuit to the night clubs of New York, and this first album is long overdue. Not to be missed.

Choices, The Terence Blanchard Group. As a musical exploration of the moral choices we make, it doesn't always work (although Dr. Cornel West's excellent spoken word contributions clear things up). But as jazz? Man, you couldn't ask for more. Anchored by a brilliant rhythm section and the piano of Cuban Fabian Almazan, Blanchard's band surges forth in superbly layered compositions, but also knows when to lay back and let quiet work its eloquent magic. The musical choices are right on, from beginning to end...

Ever had a conversation like this?...

I can smell jasmine and oleander covering this evening like a wide cotton bed sheet of white class lace...

Katrina collection...

Patrick Kennedy eulogizes his father...

Sunday Gospel Hour: Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens sing "What Have You Done?"