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Downhome Sophisticate

Corey Harris
1 disc

1. Giddyup
2. Frankie Doris
3. Money on My Mind
4. Don't Let the Devil Ride
5. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning
6. Capitaine
7. Santoro
8. Fire on the Radio
9. Fire
10. BB
11. Downhome Prelude
12. Downhome Sophisticate
13. Sista Rose
14. Black Maria
15. Chinook
16. Money Eye
17. Where the Yellow Cross the Dog
18. F'shizza - (Santoro Remix)
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): ROUCD613194
Credits

Producer Jamal Millner; Corey Harris; Mark Henry
Engineer
Personnel includes: Corey Harris (vocals, guitar, lap steel guitar);
Jamal Millner (vocals, guitar, mandolin); Rob Jackson, Daniel Norman (spoken vocals); Lytle Henry (various instruments); Olu Dara (trumpet); John D'earth, Mark Maynard, Jeff Decker (horns); Henry Butler (organ, keyboards);
Vic Brown, Houston Ross (bass); Johnny Gilmore (drums); Darrell Rose (percussion); Davina Jackson, Darita Jackson (background vocals).
Engineers include: Jeff Juliano, Jeff Bagby, Steve Van Dam.
Recorded at Haunted Hollow, Charlottesville, Virginia and The Dojo, Sperryville, Virginia; Henry Productions, New York, New York.
Personnel: Corey Harris (guitar, lap steel guitar); Olu Dara (trumpet); Jeff Decker, John D'earth, Mark Maynard (horns); Henry Butler (keyboards); John Gilmore (drums); Darrell Rose (percussion).
Audio Mixers: Mark Henry; Jeff Juliano .
Recording information: Haunted Hollow Studio, Charlottesville, VA; Lytle Henry Productions, New York, NY; The Dojo, Sperryville, VA.
Photographer: Jennifer Esperanza.
Arranger: Jamal Millner.
Corey Harris emerged in the '90s as one of the most promising and inventive young blues artists to appear in quite some time, mixing his acoustic country blues with New Orleans-style horns for a unique sound. Subsequent work found him introducing full electric band instrumentation and a mix of R&B, rock, funk and even reggae inflections. This album builds upon those developments while coming at the blues from a standpoint that's simultaneously grittier and quirkier.
While there's no denying the authenticity of Harris's roots, the combination of driving slide guitar and left-field tone/attitude occasionally suggest early Beck jamming with the North Mississippi All-Stars. Amid all the furor, Harris still finds time for reflective acoustic guitar instrumentals like "Capitaine" and the lilting, highlife-tinged "Sista Rose." For the most part though, the blend of blues foundations and unpretentious modernism creates a new, entirely organic paradigm that announces Harris as one of the most important roots artists of the 21st century.
Critic Reviews

Rolling Stone (5/23/02, p.81) - 4 out of 5 stars - "...Harris takes several stabs at breaking the mold-encrusted goober dust spread around the bedrock of modern blues variations..."
Q (8/02, pp.124,126) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Weaving his slide-guitar R&B basics around all manner of rippling juju, bouncy ska and chain-gang mantras...his approach is always heartfelt..."
Living Blues (7-8/02, p.41) - "...His overall theme remains powerful throughout and his facility in the diverse styles he's chosen keeps his vision honed and true."