And Still I Rise

The Heritage Orchestra | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 28, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RED GENERAL CATALOG
• ASIN: B006JFZUJG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,131 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Clarksdale Moan

2. C-Line Woman

3. Big-Legged Woman

4. Catfish Blues

5. Go Down Hannah

6. Get Right Church

7. Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down

8. Going Uptown

9. In The Morning

10. Levee Camp Holler

11. Chilly Jordan

12. Hard Times

Editorial Reviews

its audience on a rare musical ride. The group carries us over the main highways and big-
city streets as well as the dusty back roads of the American south while weaving its way
to the crossroads where Blues and the roots of early Jazz were born.
H.B.O. draws its sound from field hollers, work songs, spirituals, soaring gospel voices
and the hard-driving rhythms of the deep Blues from the delta and the hill country of
northern Mississippi.
The group is driven by three voices, two guitars, drums/percussion, harmonica and a fiery four piece horn section (tuba, 2 trumpets, trombone, saxophone).
Spotlighting male and female voices, bold brassy sounds of New Orleans as well as
modern jazz horn sounds and a heavy back beat, H.B.O. serves up a powerful and
compelling new take on America's Blues heritage. With an emphasis on musical
exploration, Heritage Blues Orchestra digs into innovative musical territory making a
unique and exhilarating contribution to the African-American musical canvas.
You'll recognize this group as something breathtakingly new even as old African-
American musical traditions rise up to meet you.
Heritage Blues Orchestra is perhaps the most exciting African-American roots group to
come along in a very long time. Even as you sense just how heavily steeped the group
is in tradition, you'll marvel at how boldly they march into the musical land of the new
and nameless brassy sounds of New Orleans as well as modern jazz horn sounds and a
heavy back beat, H.B.O. serves up a powerful and compelling new take on America's
Blues heritage. With an emphasis on musical exploration, Heritage Blues Orchestra digs
into innovative musical territory making a unique and exhilarating contribution to the
African-American musical canvas.
You'll recognize this group as something breathtakingly new even as old African-
American musical traditions rise up to meet you.
Heritage Blues Orchestra is perhaps the most exciting African-American roots group to
come along in a very long time. Even as you sense just how heavily steeped the group is
in tradition, you'll marvel at how boldly they march into the musical land of the new and
nameless.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues, jazz, gospel and all points in between March 4, 2012

By Nobody important VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Like essentially all American music, jazz is rooted in the blues, and plenty of musicians cross back and forth. Every once in a while, though, somebody comes along and finds a novel way to connect the two. Heritage Blues Orchestra does just that. The group consists of a core trio of Junior Mack, and Bill & Chaney Sims (father and daughter). Junior and Bill play guitar, and all three trade off vocal duties. Along with them are a couple of harmonica players, a percussionist and a four-piece horn section. Reading that, you may be thinking about one of my favorite new groups on the blues scene-- Hazmat Modine. Heritage Blues Orchestra is rather less eclectic and less experimental than Hazmat Modine, though (there are no Tuvan throat singers here...). In contrast to the wild experimentation of that group, Heritage Blues Orchestra have built an album around an idea so simple and so good that it is a wonder that it hasn't really been done before. Take one form of traditional blues-based music, and overlay it on another. The most frequent, and most successful versions of that on this album consist of taking a relatively straight-forward North Mississippi hill country groove, and on top of that, layer a horn section that sounds like it might have been arranged and conducted by Charles Mingus, or may Duke Pearson or Oliver Nelson. What these jazz luminaries had in common as arrangers was an understanding of not just the blues roots of jazz (Mingus even called one of his best albums "Blues & Roots"), but the gospel-blues connection, also heard in players like Roland Kirk and Cannonball Adderley.... The trick that someone like Mingus, Pearson or Oliver could pull off is to make the horn arrangement sufficiently rooted in a basic blues rhythm that it could be overlaid on a straight blues band, but to keep enough bop elements in the melodic structure to create the unique contrast that the Heritage Blues Orchestra creates. The result combines the best of country blues with the best of jazz in styles ranging from dixieland to the adventurous blends created by Roland Kirk. Heritage Blues Orchestra finds new and innovative ways to combine different threads of blues, gospel and jazz that seem both logical and surprising.

The material has a lot of what you would expect, including some traditionals and standards. Of course, it takes a lot of courage to tackle C-Line Woman (their chosen spelling) in this context. After all, Nina Simone basically OWNS the song. It had to be particularly intimidating for Chaney Sims to sing this in the shadow of Nina. Honestly, the arrangement is not particularly revelatory. They don't really deviate much from the basic structure of Nina-type arrangement. Bill and Junior echo Chaney over light percussion with some tuba. It is a good piece of music, but given the uniqueness of the rest of the album, it feels a bit too close to some famous arrangements to be truly revelatory.

The rest of the album, though, sounds like nothing else. As I said, I don't know why it has taken this long for somebody to figure out how to put a Mingus-style horn arrangement on top of country blues, but it is a fine idea. The real surprise is the lack of soloing, though. Both blues and jazz musicians frequently play indulgent solos. Frankly, I like indulgent solos, as long as the players are good enough. If you are familiar with Junior Mack's work with Jaimoe, you know that he most definitely is good enough. Bill Sims is no slouch as a guitarist either, but Mack really is a stand-out instrumentalist, and that only shines through in a few places on the album. The horn section is also relatively subdued. The horns aren't really given a chance to play out until the final track, Hard Times. The piece begins as an off-kilter Otis Taylor-type modern blues piece, but then transitions into the horn interlude in an arrangement vaguely reminiscent of Gil Evans. A few of the themes sounded very familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place them. Then, eventually, the piece resolves into a soul jazz workout that David Fathead Newman might have recorded in the 1970's with the horn players given an opportunity to show what they can do. It makes a nice cap to an original and satisfying demonstration of how the different threads of blues-based music from the last nearly-century can be tied together in ways that people still hadn't thought to do before.

Further listening:

Doug Wamble, Country Libations. Wamble is really the only point of comparison here. His first album drew on everything from country blues and gospel to Django Reinhardt to Ornette Coleman. He is a soulful singer, an impressive guitarist and an unusual arranger.

Hazmat Modine. As mentioned above, they use some similar instrumentation, but are far more experimental. Both of their albums are brilliant.

Otis Taylor, Recapturing the Banjo. The album sounds nothing like Heritage Blues Orchestra, but is in a similar spirit in that it brings together different threads of traditional music, specifically in an effort to show a side of the banjo not generally heard (people forget that it is actually of African origin).

Ry Cooder's 1970's albums. Cooder used to use some similar tricks, but he was more apt to take the different elements and put them in a blender rather than to serve them as a mixed salad.

Ollabelle. A good modern take on the intersection of folk, blues and gospel. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Debut !! July 26, 2012

By To The Max"Bax"

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Bill Simms Jr and his daughter Chaney can really belt out the tunes. Junior Mack also provides vocals on this collection of classics of blues greats such as Son House, Muddy Waters,Leadbelly and Eric Bibb to name a few.

A great horn section as well with excellent harp and drums, excellent guitar, just an all round tight blues band/orchestra.

This group is inventive and original. They are into country blues and gospel but with a unique twist, they pump it up without compromising the originals.

They make it sound so effortless. This one is a keeper, a new twist on the blues, I love it.

Another great CD featuring Junior Mack check out Jaimoe's Jasssz Band - Renaissance Man

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars JUST BUY IT! July 25, 2012

By F. Fuller

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Wonderful, if you love the blues, great singing and music, really just buy it. This was a wonderful find, looking forward to more of their music.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great interpretations June 1, 2013

By RF

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

A real interesting mix of new and old approaches. Sourced from what feel like real old songs, played anew. They really enjoy what they're doing too.

5.0 out of 5 stars What a wonderful album! March 21, 2013

By S. Carlson

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I cannot say enough good things about this album. Stellar musicianship, outstanding vocals from all members, tasty horns, lively arrangements...it is hard to imagine any blues fan being disappointed. Buy it!

5.0 out of 5 stars So glad I found this CD March 15, 2013

By Cheryl D Higgins

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I don't remember where I heard the song "Don't let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down". Satellite radio maybe. But I researched it and found out about the Heritage Blues Orchestra. The entire CD is good. I'll be looking for more by them. But if you like Blues....that song noted above.........you just gotta hear it for yourself and you'll know what I'm talking about.

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Classic Performances March 4, 2013

By Michael Champlin

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

This colaboration is a treat for the ears and soul! Solid performances by Bill Sims Jr., on vocals and guitar, his daughter Chaney Sims on vocals, and Junior Mack on vocals and on both electric and slide guitars make this a worthy Grammy Winning perfromance.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great shot of blues January 27, 2013

By Mike Rudge

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a recent blues album I can return to easily. Great musicianship, well selected songs delivered with just the right sense of life. While definitely a blues album the orchestra deliver them with an interesting blend of jazz and bluegrass.