Expanded Reissue of 2002 Follow-Up to Gospel-Soul Breakthrough

On the follow-up to their groundbreaking Spirit of the Century, the Blind Boys of Alabama reached even wider for material, and picked up Robert Randolph & the Family Band and Ben Harper as backing musicians. Working again with producers John Chelew and Chris Goldsmith, this isn’t as surprising as the preceding volume, but affirms the direction to be a solid artistic statement, rather than just a commercial diversion. The group explores both traditional gospel material and the soul music that it inspired, the latter stretching from titles by Curtis Mayfield and Aretha Franklin to Prince, Jimmy Cliff and Funkadelic. The electric band creates busier backings than were heard on Spirit of the Century, and they’re not nearly as sympathetic to the vocals. Omnivore’s 2016 reissue augments the original twelve tracks with seven contemporaneous live performances recorded at KCRW’s Los Angeles studio; there’s also an eight-page booklet with new liner notes by Davin Seay. This is a nice upgrade to an adventurous follow-on, but you’ll want to start with Spirit of the Century. [©2016 Hyperbolium]

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