Customer Reviews

Downhome Sophisticate

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a pudgy, bald man of Irish descent. That really doesn't qualify me to speak on what moves Corey Harris when he makes music. I certainly am not qualified to speak on the reality of being a black man in this place and time. It is evident to me that he is a man very much in touch with who he is. A man who realized that sometimes you must go back to go forward. There is an astonishing array of musical genres on display here. Rural country blues, sizzling electric barnburners and guitar workouts inspired by time in New Orleans, Cameroon and Mali.

This music takes my breath away. I don't have to fully understand what's going on to know that it moves me. This is music with a heart and soul. Music that's warm and alive. Music that makes you feel the blood flowing through your veins.Thank you, Corey. This is wonderful.

Corey Harris is great, no doubt about it. He is my favorite modern bluesman. However, it is difficult to follow where he is headed with this album. He starts off with some harder,electric songs that don't strike the listener extremely well, and throws in many different directions. I love his Carribean songs especially black maria and sister rose, but the rest of the songs are not great. Still a decent album, but definitely not nearly as good as his last three albums.

Corey Harris is a remarkable talent who refuses to be categorized by genres or labels. "Downhome Sophisticate" is a wonderful follow-up to Harris' stellar 1999 release "Greens in the Garden". Harris is one of the few musicians capable of creating a record that has a variety of styles that somehow fit together perfectly. Though firmly rooted in the blues, "Downhome Sophisticate" is actually a mix of funk, rock, reggae, hip-hop, gospel and world beats. At no time does anything feel out of place. As he says, he uses the blues as a "blueprint to build whatever house you want.".

The record is loaded with remarkable performances. His revved up version of "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Buring" is a great companion to "Between Midnight and Day"'s acoustic version. "Black Maria" is simply gorgeous and "Frankie Doris" flat out roars. And the driving force behind it all is Corey's voice. He sounds utterly amazing.

Why didn't this record make more noise than it did? This is the type of music I'd like to see/hear more of in the mainstream market. Though well known in the blues circles (and perhaps some Dave Matthews fans), you rarely hear Corey mentioned accept for a Rolling Stone cd review here or a World Cafe broadcast there. Corey Harris and the 5x5 should be superstars. Until that time they'll just have to remain hidden gems.

Having prepared myself for the masterful work of Corey Harris I must say this album came as a big disappointment. The songs wander through different genres with no feeling or purpose. Couple this with the engingeering, such that the volumes shift up & down from song to song and the result is a frustrating experience. Not really sure what Corey's intentions are, but after listening to the fake Jamaican accent on "Sista Rose", well....I pulled the CD out and resolved to sell it on eBay.

I first heard Corey Harris though my subscription to InRadio CDs (which are worth their weight in gold, check them out at inradio.com)... was blown away by the track Downhome Sophisticate and had to check out the full album. Usually it's the case that I love a track, but the album and the rest of the offerings are lackluster.... Let me tell you this is not the case here! This album blew me the heck out of the water.... I see another reviewer complains he wanders "more than a blues musician". Duh. What's so wildly exciting about Mr Harris' work is how vibrant, alive, and evolving his work is... Yes, he seems to grab hungrily from influences of music spanning decades... and he does it with chops and aplomb.

Buy some of his other disks and you will be similarly impressed. None are alike, but all show a love of music and an intelligence that far exceeds anything else I am aware of in music at the moment.... Or anything else I have encountered! Greens From the Garden for example... definitely rootsy... unapologetically so, but the spin he puts on it - wow. He is not a HISTORIAN, far beyond that. His music is an education.... and a fun, thought-provoking and exciting one at that. Exciting exciting exciting. Do yourself a favor and buy this disk!

Desde que emergió como la gran esperanza negra del blues acústico en 1994 con "Between Midnight And Day", Corey Harris ha crecido inmensamente como artista. Su álbum "Greens From The Garden" (99), un ecléctico catálogo de estilos afroamericanos, ya fue un aviso de su evolución.

"Downhome Sophisticate" se presenta como su proyecto más ambicioso: el cantante y guitarrista ha escrito la mayoría de los temas, ha colaborado con músicos como el trompetista Olu Dara y el pianista Henry Butler, ha añadido un fuerte elemento de voces femeninas, ha contado historias sobre su vida y sobre los grandes temas, y ha creado un retrato sonoro de los lugares donde ha estado a lo largo de su vida.

Quien espere encontrar blues o rhythm & blues tradicional, lo tendrá en pequeñas dosis: el tradicional "Don't Let The Devil Ride", el jump boogie "BB", o el acústico "Where The Yellow Cross The Dog". En cambio, los amantes de las mutaciones estarán de enhorabuena con el acelerado "Money On My Mind" o "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning".

Las influencias africanas, resultado de los viajes de Harris por Malí y Camerún, impregnan temas como la preciosa balada acústica instrumental "Capitaine", el psicodélico "Fire", y el "Sista Rose". Los aires caribeños y latinos se respiran en el sensual "Black Maria" y en "Money Eye".

Harris también infunde al blues tradicional de nueva sangre, y lo actualiza con el funk en "Francis Doris" y en el pausado "Santoro", y con el rap en "Downhome Sophisticate" (la mejor mezcla de blues del Delta y hip hop desde el "Tennessee" de Arrested Development).

"Downhome Sophisticate" se cierra con "F'Shizza", un extenso corte de más de 22 minutos que incluye, entre otras cosas, una excelente remezcla hip hop de "Santoro" y un diálogo en francés con Ali Farka Touré sobre la cultura africana. El círculo se cierra: el blues vuelve a Africa y se proyecta con fuerza hacia el futuro, con Corey Harris como principal impulsor.

After reading about Corey Harris, "Downhome Sophisticate" was my introduction to him. Harris, who was raised in Denver and spent time in Cameroon in Africa and New Orleans, offers a mixture of sounds and cultural flavors in his music. "Downhome Sophisticate" was highly rated, but has not resonated for me. The musicianship is crisp, but the songs don't stick with you. For example, the track "Chinook" is aimless guitar noodling whose inclusion is puzzling. "Money on My Mind" has a nice bass workout and some rocking fuzz-tone guitar that makes it pleasant. "Capitaine" is a soft acoustic guitar piece that is sweet, but not remarkable. "Santoro" was billed as the airplay track. While it has a nice loping beat and some excellent vocals, the music seems off-kilter and lyrically its serious theme about racial extermination isn't really conveyed by the music. "Fire" gets a nice groove going that sounds like nouveau Taj Mahal. My favorite track is "BB" with its barrelhouse piano and its rock-out lead guitar. Overall, "Downhome Sophisticate" fails to make much of an impression. It's nice, but not one that calls to be put in the CD player. Taxi.

Downhome Sophisticate is a masterpoiece of an album.