Johnny Adams, the regal “Tan Canary” from New Orleans, sings with pure, soul-stirring emotion on Man Of My Word (Rounder 11661-2155-2; 59:57). Rebounding from a life-threatening illness in 1997, Adams is back in classic belting form with this collection of heart-wrenching ballads (“Even Now,” “Now You Know,” “It Tears Me Up”), infectious funk (“It Ain’t The Same Thing,” “Bulldog Break His Chain”), slow blues (“This Time I’m Gone For Good”), country (“I Don’t Want To Know”) and good ol’ Southern soul (“Going Out Of My Mind Sale,” “Up And Down World”). Another highlight here is an a cappella rendition of the gospel chestnut “Never Alone,” performed with Aaron Neville, Nick Daniels, Earl J. Smith, Jr., and Charles Elam III, which closes out this superb deep soul showcase in majestic fashion.
Originally PublishedRelated Posts
Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee: Backwater Blues
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading

Jonathan Butler: The Simple Life
Jonathan Butler’s optimistic music belies a dirt-poor childhood growing up in a South Africa segregated by apartheid. Live in South Africa, a new CD and DVD package, presents a sense of the resulting inner turmoil, mixed with dogged resolve, that paved the way to his status as an icon in his country and successful musician outside of it. Looking back, the 46-year-old Butler says today, the driving forces that led to his overcoming apartheid-the formal policy of racial separation and economic discrimination finally dismantled in 1993-were family, faith and abundant talent.
“When we were kids, our parents never talked about the ANC [African National Congress] or Nelson Mandela,” he says. Butler was raised as the youngest child in a large family. They lived in a house patched together by corrugated tin and cardboard, in the “coloreds only” township of Athlone near Cape Town. “They never talked about struggles so we never knew what was happening.”
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Harry Connick, Jr.: Direct Hits
Two decades after his commercial breakthrough, Harry Connick Jr. taps legendary producer Clive Davis for an album of crooner roots and beloved tunes

Scott LaFaro
Previously unavailable recordings and a new bio illuminate the legend of bassist Scott LaFaro