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Six Degrees of Cécile McLorin Salvant’s WomanChild

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic Contributor

It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »

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Interview: Valerie June

By John Morthland, eMusic Contributor

[To celebrate his receiving the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award from the Association of Independent Music, we invited Billy Bragg to take control of eMusic's editorial for a week. He nominated the soulful Tennessee singer/songwriter Valerie June — maker of his favorite album of 2013 — for an interview and shared his favorite albums on eMusic. Read our exclusive interview with Bragg here. — Ed.] Youthful Tennessee native Valerie June plays a crude, but oh so… more »

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Interview: Rory Block

By John Morthland, eMusic Contributor

Rory Block was a precocious teenager when country blues first swept Greenwich Village as part of the folk boom in the late '50s and early '60s. She was smitten then by the earthy, uncompromising sound of Robert Johnson and others, and she still is. Though nowadays she writes some of her own material and strays a bit from the classic sound, country blues remains the basis for everything she does. After releasing a tribute to Johnson… more »

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Allen Toussaint, Songbook

2013 | Label: New Rounder

Composer-pianist Allen Toussaint invented New Orleans rhythm-and-blues as much as anyone on the planet with his homespun songwriting, arranging and overall studio wizardry from the late 1950s onward — and true to the spirit of his Crescent City, it was expertise laced with amiability. Flooded out from his home by Hurricane Katrina, Toussaint relocated to New York City and began a regular gig at Joe’s Pub, which is where Songbook was recorded over two nights in 2009. The album captures the charm and sporadic magic of this odd interlude; Toussaint… more »

Cécile McLorin Salvant, WomanChild

2013 | Label: Mack Avenue Records / The Orchard

Few modern jazz debuts have been as audacious and confident as 23-year-old singer Cécile McLorin Salvant’s WomanChild. The climactic “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” builds, recedes and then builds some more, heading for the most dramatic high-note finish since Sir Richard Harris’s “MacArthur Park.” There are moments when it sounds like there are four or five singers trapped inside, fighting to come out at once. It’s thrilling, and a little over the top. It’d be too much if she couldn’t be subtle too, as on “I Didn’t Know… more »

Tedeschi Trucks Band, Made Up Mind

2013 | Label: Masterworks

An 11-piece troupe, co-founded by guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi, and fleshed out by a steely horn section, backup singers and a pair of percussionists, Tedeschi Trucks Band bills itself as a multi-part roots-rock collective. Like their supple, stellar 2011 debut, Revelator, Made Up Mind is still largely a platform for Trucks and Tedeschi to showcase their respective skills. The Dixie-funk that defined the band’s debut remains ever-present: Tedeschi lets her moan throw bricks upon the swampy, slinky grooves of “Misunderstood” and the barroom burner… more »

Dumpstaphunk, Dirty Word

2013 | Label: Louisiana Red Hot Records / Entertainment One Distribution

Dumpstaphunk started 10 years ago backing local hero and keyboard player Ivan Neville at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival, caught a breeze and never stopped. Though boasting two members of New Orleans first family (Art Neville’s son and Ivan’s cousin Ian plays guitar), Dirty Word has little in common with the elastic sound of the Neville family brand. It’s full-on homage to the funk and soul bands of the 1970s, the big bold bass lines and wily chants of arena acts like Parliament-Funkadelic, the Ohio Players, Cameo, and… more »

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Freshly Ripped Radio

By J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-Chief

Looking for the newest and best on eMusic? Look no further than Freshly Ripped Radio. Every week, our editorial team combs through the crates and pulls out the best of the best, all the better to help you spend your money wisely. more »

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