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the woes



Last Updated: 12/17/2009

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Status: Single
City: New York
State: New York
Country: US
Signup Date: 2/18/2005

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009 

Here are the words:

The Woes
Heaven Knows
(self-released)
Recommended for fans of this EVR show: Loisaida Cultural Wire
The Woes are a band close to EVR's heart, in part because (full disclosure) their singer-songwriter Osei Essed is the host of Loisaida Cultural Wire, every Friday morning from 4 to 6 a.m. ET. But we would all over this album even without that connection, because Heaven Knows blends Delta blues, New Orleans jazz, old-fashioned country and post-modern soul into a rollicking, often raucous gumbo. Banjo, tuba, accordion, French horn, pedal steel and a Fender Rhodes electric piano float through the mix, along with an entire music store's worth of brass and percussion and a small army of folks singing, clapping and foot-stomping. Occasional moments of tranquility surface, like Essed's banjo-mandolin solo "Bohemia Lies By The Sea" and the Tom Waits-like waltz-time lullaby "Heaven Knows," and there's a certain melancholic wistfulness to the album as a whole. But rhythmic stompers like "The Secret" and the Latin-tinged "Sranan" are like an old-fashioned jazz funeral: there's joy inside the tears.
-- Stewart Mason

here's a link to the EVR home page:

http://www.eastvillageradio.com/index.php



Currently listening:
The Very Best of Dr. John
By Dr. John
Release date: 1995-04-25