LITTLE ROCK — Joey + Rory
His and Hers
Sugar Hill B+
The Tennessee husband and wife team release their third album today and it features a clean split of the vocal duties - Joey gets half and Rory gets half. The sound for His and Hers is closer to bluegrass than pop-happy Nashville country.
The first track, “Josephine,” is an incredible, fast-moving letter from a doomed Confederate soldier to his wife back home. The rest of the CD struggles to top it with “Waiting for Someone,” a tale of romantic longing that turns right in the end, coming very close. While Rory writes many of the songs, a couple have credits by Nashville professionals.
There’s a corniness to His and Hers that eventually drags it down, but Joey + Rory establish themselves here as originals and a musical force that demands attention.
Hot tracks: “Josephine,” “Waiting for Someone.”
- WERNER TRIESCHMANN
Kevin Kerby
Apostle’s Tongues
Max Recordings A
Music isn’t what it once was, and it was probably never the way we pretend. Someone once said that some people are quiet simply because they don’t have much to say and they’re smart enough to keep that to themselves. But Arkansas’ Kevin Kerby is no manufactured enigma. He’s just an honest working man who happens to write songs imbued with mystery and grace, that come plainly sung, like country, and sliding sideways toward the truth like real poetry ... except you can’t be affected by them unless you listen to them, unless you hear the slow surge and slow-motion tumble of the words.
This album appears to be autobiographical, although that could be just an artist’s trick - that is to say, the true magic that transforms the specific experience into a universal throe. It’s simple stuff really, three chords and the recognition that we’re all in this together - a kind of uncommon empathy and a habit of sober self-appraisal.
“I have a tendency to panic,” our troubadour admits, “and take the easy way out/I am surprisingly familiar /With the coward’s route.” I doubt that, brother, but sing it anyway.
Hot tracks: All of them, especially, “I Should Have Gone to the Funeral,” “My Suicide” and “Brown Bottle Flu.”
- PHILIP MARTIN
Luther Vandross
Hidden Gems
Epic/Legacy B-
Though I remember the late Luther Vandross in his heyday, I’ve never been a big fan. However, the man had a beautiful voice and it’s showcased nicely on this set full of little-heard ballads and love songs.
The 15-song album spans Vandross’ career back to 1981’s “You Stopped Loving Me.” The best is probably his soul-stirring rendition of “The Impossible Dream.” He teams up with Martha Wash for a passionate duet on “I (Who Have Nothing)” and Stevie Wonder lends a rousing harmonica riff to accent Vandross’ silky delivery of “Once Were Lovers.”
Hot tracks: “The Impossible Dream,” “I (Who Have Nothing).”
- L. LAMOR WILLIAMS
Jerry Douglas
Traveler
Entertainment One Music B+
Jerry Douglas is the king of the dobro, a member of Allison Krauss’ band, Union Station, and has performed on something like 1,600 albums. So it’s no surprise that Douglas is able to pull together a cast of all-stars as guests on his solo album. Eric Clapton pops up on “Something You Got,” Keb Mo’ sings lead on the New Orleans piano flecked blues of “High Blood Pressure,” and Mumford & Sons and Paul Simon take on Simon’s “The Boxer.”
As you might expect, there are some incredible stretches of guitar playing here - “Gone to Fortingall” has a wonderful, expansive feel. For all the guest appearances and dipping in and out of styles, this album feels somewhat restrained. Surely there was a really weird experiment Douglas could have tried. Still, the man is a stone-cold pro and Traveler shows that again and again.
Hot tracks: “The Boxer,” “Gone to Fortingall.”
- WERNER TRIESCHMANN
Style, Pages 27 on 07/31/2012