Corey Harris Albums (10)
What The Critics Say
Corey Harris takes a decidedly anthropological and academic approach to the blues, deeply researching its variants and origins, even making several trips to Africa to trace out its DNA (resulting in the marvelous Mississippi to Mali), but even as Harris thinks and connects dots like a scholar, when he gets down to playing the songs, he's all musician, and that leads him to create some wonderful hybrids, and he seems to have settled down lately with a sound that seems more Jamaican than anything else. Blu. Black starts with the lovely "Blue" and ends with a juke joint blues called "Black," so it's obvious what terrain Harris is mapping out here, but in between he gently works in some Americanized roots reggae, some quiet storm-type ballads, and odds and ends of other Afro-matrixed musical ephemera, and amazingly, he does it with a calm, assured, and extremely positive voice that is as welcome as it is vital. One hesitates to call this stuff blues, although it certainly is blues-informed (but then so is 99 percent of what you hear on the radio, really). A winning singer with an easy charm, Harris shines here on songs (most of them were co-written with keyboardist and producer Chris "Peanut" Whitley) like "King and Queen" (a duet with Davina Jackson), the straight-out-of-Kingston-sounding "Conquering Lion," the sunny skanking "Run Around Girl," and a moving, stark solo version of Burning Spear's "Columbus." It all goes down easy, and Harris' naturally positive tone makes this album yet another treat from this gifted musician. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Corey Harris has spent his career digging for roots, looking for the links that bind his beloved blues with African music and other tributaries of black music, including old-time jazz and R&B. On the brilliant 2003 Mississippi to Mali, Harris took his recording equipment to the field in those two seemingly far-apart locales, and discovered they were closer than you might think. Before that, on 1999's Greens from the Garden, he found common threads between the blues of the Delta and the many variations of Americana that Louisiana has to offer. For Zion Crossroads, Harris turns his attention to reggae -- real roots reggae, not the often unrecognizable spinoffs that pass for it today. At times, Zion Crossroads is virtually indistinguishable from the righteous, spiritually motivated, Rasta-centered reggae that first emerged from Jamaica in the early '70s. Harris' songs here deal with the issues that concerned the pioneers like Bob Marley, Burning Spear, and Black Uhuru, when reggae was vital to the Rastafarian existence, not just another exotic rhythm on the dancefloor. In "Sweatshop," Harris laments the deplorable conditions under which so many still labor today: "All day on your feet just to make ends meet/So hot it burn your skin, tell you it's a grievous sin." "No Peace for the Wicked," which features Ranking Joe guesting on DJ vocals, is a song of encouragement in light of oppression, and the uptempo "Keep Your Culture" is self-explanatory, asking blacks, simply, "If not you, then who?" Harris uses standard roots reggae instrumentation for most of the album -- guitars, keyboards, horns, drums -- but one of the more interesting diversions takes place on the two-part "Walter Rodney." A tribute to the Guyanese political activist killed by a bomb while running for office in 1980, the song adds the African ngoni, played by Cheick Hamala Diabaté, tying it to Harris' African-themed recordings. And "Plantation Town" has nothing at all to do with reggae -- it's a nearly traditional country tune, complete with fiddle. It may not sound like anything else on the record, but its condemnation of slavery is very much in keeping with Harris' wakeup call for unity and harmony in a world that needs it more than ever. ~ Jeff Tamarkin, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Corey Harris takes a decidedly anthropological and academic approach to the blues, deeply researching its variants and origins, even making several trips to Africa to trace out its DNA (resulting in the marvelous Mississippi to Mali), but even as Harris thinks and connects dots like a scholar, when he gets down to playing the songs, he's all musician, and that leads him to create some wonderful hybrids. One would expect Harris to build further on the Mali connection for this album, but Daily Bread surprises by sounding more Jamaican than anything else, and even includes striking covers of John Holt's "I See Your Face" and Sylford Walker's "Lamb's Bread," which merge the reggae rhythms of the originals with a sort of blues sensibility, while the political "The Bush Is Burning" is nothing less than full-blown ska. There are two tracks here ("Mami Wata" and "The Peach") featuring guitarist, trumpeter, and vocalist Olu Dara that do build on the African dimension, with "The Peach" -- a ten-minute-long Griot creation rap -- in particular becoming a kind of perfect blend of Africa and Delta, but the rhythmic synthesis is so complete on Daily Bread that everything meshes together like pieces from the same bright quilt. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this album is how ultimately American it sounds (no doubt thanks to the presence of New Orleans pianist Henry Butler on several cuts) in spite of its Caribbean and African lilt, a testament to how well Harris pulls all these different international strands together without losing sight of where his musical journey began. Given his penchant for researching origins and sources, one would expect Harris to have a preservationist approach to the blues, but he's really more interested in the dynamic possibilities of the genre, and he does this on Daily Bread by looking to Africa and the Caribbean, with the end result being a wonderfully varied and yet unified album that preserves the blues by gracefully expanding the genre's possibilities. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
'Mississippi to Mali'
Release Date 11/18/2003
Tracks 15
Label Rounder
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What The Critics Say
Corey Harris is adept at combining contemporary sensibilities with traditional country blues forms in a manner so natural that the cracks and fissures between now and then never seem to show, an accomplishment he expands on Mississippi to Mali to include two continents. Again, the music flows so naturally that the bridges and welds that join the African and African-American traditions on this record are never obvious, creating a seamless, wonderful album. The tracks were recorded live in the field, an approach that strengthens the intimate feel here, and there are numerous high points, including Africanized versions of Skip James' "Cypress Grove Blues" and Robert Petway's "Catfish Blues" that open new dimensions in each song without altering its original intent and tone. A version of "Sitting on Top of the World" (called "Station Blues" here) with the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, and featuring Shardé Thomas, the 12-year-old granddaughter of Othar Turner, is a particular delight in its ramshackle exuberance. Mississippi to Mali closes with a credible and moving take on Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" that spotlights Harris' considerable acoustic slide skills. This is another fine album from a player whose reverence for the blues doesn't keep him from instilling the form with both joy and innovation. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
'Downhome Sophisticate'
Release Date 4/30/2002
Tracks 18
Label Rounder
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What The Critics Say
Few artists reflect the breadth of black music as vividly as Corey Harris, who performs at the peak of his strength throughout Downhome Sophisticate. The overall feel is rural, with plenty of slide guitar slithering over raw, live rhythms. The hooks have a timeless feel, as on "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning," with its rootsy gospel vocal motif and an implied handclap beat over a "My Sharona" hook. But Harris nods as well toward acoustic folk-blues, softened and broadened on the solo track "Capitaine" by an almost John Redbourne feel (which owes a lot in itself to Son House). Instrumental tracks evoke images nearly as clearly as those with words; the jump boogie bounce of "BB" paints a picture of a Southern roadhouse on a Saturday night. But when Harris adds lyrics they enhance this eloquence, as on "Fire," whose references to Babylon, bloodshed, and perditional flames project an ominous, apocalyptic power. It's an easy leap for Harris from folklore to urgent urban settings; his depiction of a police car as a fearsome, prowling Biblical beast makes "Santoro" especially disturbing. The fact that Harris also borrows from Mexican and Latino traditions, especially on "Sista Rose" and the sensuous "Black Maria," makes the point that African-American culture, the center of Western pop, abuts multiple styles and is able to draw from each with equal ease. In the end, the title says it all: This is music both primitive and elusive, easy to absorb and more difficult to play than it seems. ~ Robert L. Doerschuk, All Music Guide
'Live At Starr Hill 1/27/01'
Release Date 1/1/2001
Tracks 23
Label Njumba Music
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What The Critics Say
This collaboration is the first full-length release from like-minded bluesmen guitarist Corey Harris and pianist Henry Butler. Although they had previously played together on live dates, the only other time they appear on CD is on Harris' Greens From the Garden. These 15 tracks cover more ground than the mere term "blues" implies. The duo recalls not only the best of traditional piano/guitar music of the '20s and '30s, but also New Orleans soul, barrelhouse, ragtime, and Delta blues. To their credit, Harris and Butler have the ability to bring these traditions into a modern context while retaining the soul that some modern blues recordings lack. Not only are duet settings heard but a few solo spots are featured. The playing is phenomenal, which shouldn't overshadow the emotional vocal performances, including the a cappella gospel on "Why Don't You Live So God Can Use You?" that closes out this highly recommended disc. ~ Al Campbell, All Music Guide
'Greens from the Garden'
Release Date 3/23/1999
Tracks 20
Label Alligator
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What The Critics Say
Greens from the Garden is nothing short of a tour de force for Corey Harris. Progressing from the solo acoustic blues of Between Midnight and Day and the stripped Dixie influence of Fish Ain't Bitin', Harris' third album is a mixture of 20th century Americana that hits home runs in every genre in which it comes to bat. The diversity of styles in Greens from the Garden is reminiscent of Ry Cooder's Paradise and Lunch, in which the musician's personality is the glue holding all the styles together. Harris commits himself to the spirit of the songs here; despite his versatility, he never comes off as a dilettante, but rather a devoted auteur. Harris' New Orleans roots are deepened and widened, with affecting forays into French-sung Cajun waltz, "Pas Parlez" and several funk excursions worthy of the Neville Brothers and the Meters (in "Wild West" and "Honeysuckle"). Most startling is how well Harris' modern lyrical outlook fuses with 20th century traditional styles; by trusting in the integrity of the music, he's able to steer the listener toward the spiritual sides of topical arguments in "Basehead" and "Lynch Blues" without once resorting to preaching or heavy-handedness. Greens from the Garden's covers are just as satisfying, with a Delta reworking of "Diddy Wah Diddy" (a song that's also on Cooder's Paradise and Lunch) and a reggae restructuring of "Just a Closer Walk with Thee." Billy Bragg guests on "Teabag Blues," a Woody Guthrie lyric for which Harris wrote the music -- a byproduct of Bragg's and Wilco's Mermaid Avenue sessions on which Harris guested. A tremendous journey that redefines the rules of revivalism. ~ Paul Pearson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Corey Harris' second outing for Alligator shows that he's no one-album flash in the pan, with this sophomore effort moving his modern-day acoustic Delta blues vision into even broader territory with delightful results. While his debut effort illustrated Harris' absolute mastery of older Delta styles, both instrumentally and vocally, Fish Ain't Bitin' charts new terrain using that first album as a stylistic building block. The big news here is that over half of the 17 songs are from Corey's own pen and compositions like "High Fever Blues" (heard here in two versions), "5-0 Blues," "Berry Owen Blues," and "If You Leave Me" show that he's more than adept in wedding contemporary influences to his down-home country sound. Adding to that are his takes on Son House's "Preaching Blues," Memphis Minnie's "Bumble Bee Blues," Big Maceo's "Worried Life Blues" and Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Jack O'Diamonds," all of them rendered in the proper spirit and context and all of them sounding nothing like the originals -- a tough feat to pull off, but one that Harris does with consummate ease, imbuing these warhorses with the stamp of his personality. Several tracks also feature a trombone and tuba or string bass working in tandem with Corey's National steel-bodied guitar, making a Mississippi-New Orleans musical connection that sounds perfectly natural. No sophomore jinx here, as Corey Harris has turned in one great little album that examines the music's past while looking forward to the future for more input. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide
'Between Midnight and Day'
Release Date 1/1/1995
Tracks 16
Label Alligator
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What The Critics Say
An astonishingly good record, covering a multitude of Delta-based styles and songs from Charley Patton to Muddy Waters, as well as a few originals. It's just Harris and his acoustic guitar, some dazzling finger work and a voice that's about as good as you're going to hear from anyone doing blues and still walking around at the end of the 20th century. The material alternately surges and broods, and once in a while does both at the same time, and it's all worth hearing. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
