Insurrection Blues is reeds het twintigste album van bluesartiest Corey Harris, maar voor het eerst na drie jaar onder Bloos Records. Voor dit album ging Harris terug naar traditionele Amerikaanse blues en traditionele Afrikaanse muziek. De meeste nummers werden opgenomen tijdens de lockdown.
The Davis Sisters zongen in the 50's Twelve Gates To the City, maar Corey Harris maakt het nummer eigen met niet meer dan gitaar en stem.
Toubaka en Sunjata zijn dan weer puur instrumentaal, bij deze nummers hoor je dan ook dat Harris uitstekend gitaar speelt.
In de diverse songs zijn veel boodschappen verwerkt en die komen soms wat somber over.
Met Boats Up River en By and By krijgen we wat meer tempo.
Ook Afton Mountain Blues, dat samen met Phil Wiggens tot stand kwam, is instrumentaal.
We sluiten het album af met Scottsville Breakdown dat met enkel betekenisloze vocals er toch in slaagt ons een optimistisch gevoel te geven.
Traditioneel met wat Afrikaanse invloeden: dit zal dus vooral een album zijn voor de bluesfan die houdt van iets kalmer werk.
Releasedatum: 5 november 2021
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"Insurrection Blues" by acclaimed blues singer and artist Corey Harris on November 5th, 2021. This marks Corey’s 1st release in over 3 years.
“Insurrection Blues,” is Corey Harris' 20th album overall and continues a blues journey that began with his debut album Between Midnight and Day in 1995. The songs are full topical relevance, yet steeped in tradition and informed
by his musical explorations over the decades. Recorded in Italy under shutdown conditions, the album returns to the solo acoustic format that's been his base since his early days as a busker in New Orleans.
Given his gift of synthesizing many musical strands into a seamless piece of work, it’s no wonder Harris has received many accolades. Among them is being awarded a MacArthur Fellowship — commonly referred to as a “genius award” — from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and an honorary music doctorate from his alma mater, Bates College in Maine. He’s a sought-after collaborator, too. He was featured in the Scorsese film “Feel Like Going Home” and on the now-classic “Mermaid Avenue” albums of rediscovered Woody Guthrie songs, for which he wrote some of the music. Corey has collaborated with B.B. King, Tracy Chapman, and Dave Matthews.
In “Insurrection Blues” Harris brings some necessary commentary into his acoustic universe. Like many of us, he was paying attention to national events during the pandemic lockdown. And when he saw the profoundly disturbing events in Washington DC on January 6th, the path of his next album became clear. “I was on Twitter and probably saw the first video five minutes after it was posted. I play music because I have something to say, and I'm thankful that I can eat because of it. I felt there was a duty, a responsibility, to use the craft to say something.”
