Few artists reflect the breadth of black music as vividly as Corey Harris, who performs at the peak of his strength throughout Downhome Sophisticate. The overall feel is rural, with plenty of slide guitar slithering over raw, live rhythms. The hooks have a timeless feel, as on "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning," with its rootsy gospel vocal motif and an implied handclap beat over a "My Sharona" hook. But Harris nods as well toward acoustic folk-blues, softened and broadened on the so...   [ read more ]

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Corey Harris is adept at combining contemporary sensibilities with traditional country blues forms in a manner so natural that the cracks and fissures between now and then never seem to show, an accomplishment he expands on Mississippi to Mali to include two continents. Again, the music flows so naturally that the bridges and welds that join the African and African-American traditions on this record are never obvious, creating a seamless, wonderful album. The tracks were recorded live in the fi...   [ read more ]

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An astonishingly good record, covering a multitude of Delta-based styles and songs from Charley Patton to Muddy Waters, as well as a few originals. It's just Harris and his acoustic guitar, some dazzling finger work and a voice that's about as good as you're going to hear from anyone doing blues and still walking around at the end of the 20th century. The material alternately surges and broods, and once in a while does both at the same time, and it's all worth hearing. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

CD $17.08