I'm Gonna Tell You Somethin' That I Know: Live at the G Spot

Recording information: G Spot (09/04/2010).
Director: Jeff Dale & the South Woodlawners.
Editor: Dave Kuprianiak.
Photographer: Lynn Orman Weiss.
Omnivore's 2017 album I'm Gonna Tell You Somethin' That I Know: Live at the G Spot was recorded at a concert David "Honeyboy" Edwards gave in Los Angeles on September 4, 2010. This is the last recorded performance from Edwards -- he would die a little less than a year later at the age of 96 -- and that fact alone would make this record a worthy historical document, but it's also a fine concert on its own terms. Edwards sounds particularly spry, soaking up the reaction of the crowd and playing along with his small combo, which follows his every shuffle. If the sound is a little muffled -- it sounds like an audience tape, which is odd for a live album from the 21st century -- that actually adds to its allure, since it creates the illusion that this is music made many, many years before 2010. Certainly, Edwards was keeping the Delta blues alive, but the striking thing about I'm Gonna Tell You Somethin' That I Know is how it doesn't feel preserved in amber: this music feels alive and vital, which is particularly impressive when coming from a singer of 95 years. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine