![“Music Was Mine to Experience.”](https://cdn.magzter.com/1394478161/1641283994/articles/61e95bfebb115/Keb-Mo-Kevin-Moore-Blues-Country-blues-Delta-blues-Sony-Musician-Black-musicians.jpg)
For all its ghastliness and heartbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic has been good to Keb’ Mo’. When the virus hit the US, it forced the cancelation of a string of his concerts. “I was getting a little burned out on touring,” he confesses.
In the subsequent months, he happily spent a good deal of time at home with his wife and their 14-year-old son. When his creativity needed an outlet, along came an offer from CBS to write and record the theme song and musical cues for a new comedy show, B Positive. And after the pandemic peaked, he told me, “I did some concerts, got a little gig-playing money. It was fine, really.”
Most of all, the pandemic hiatus was an opportunity to write and record Good to Be …, his latest studio album, scheduled for release January 21. Full of cozy blues grooves coated in a mellifluous pop-wise sound, it’s a safe yet sophisticated record. Its 13 tracks draw you in and make you smile. Standouts include “Medicine Man,” a country-blues stomper that, despite the 40-beats-per-minute tempo, will quickly put you in a party mood, and the bouncy “So Easy,” in which a Hammond organ, punchy horns, and exuberant vocals combine to sound as Pharrell Williams might if he recorded Philly soul. No obvious new ground is broken, and that’s okay: In a time when nerves are frayed and tempers are short, I’ll take solid and soothing any day.
Speaking by Zoom from his home-based Nashville recording studio, Keb’ Mo’ looks the part, too: trim, energetic, and much younger than his 70 years. What’s his secret, I ask—does he inject himself with the blood of virgins?
Denne historien er fra February 2022-utgaven av Stereophile.
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Denne historien er fra February 2022-utgaven av Stereophile.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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My last Far East trip
First comes the anticipation, that initial jet of warm water, that miraculous searching, finding the sweet spot, then heaven on earth as it cleans and caresses.
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Riding the Common Wave
In the e-commerce era, brick-and-mortar dealerships must give customers compelling reasons to stop by. Los Angeles hi-fi dealership Common Wave's owner Wesley Katzir keeps customers coming through the door with a simple idea: that music matters in our everyday lives and that what he enjoys, other people will enjoy, too.
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Mind Games to the bottom of the rabbit hole
After a wild decade in the biggest pop music group ever, John Lennon's post-Beatles years were spent in protest, in various kinds of therapy, in immigration court, and in search of a new musical identity.
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Trane meets the Motor City
Detroit became a destination for migrating African Americans early, starting with the Underground Railroad; the city's proximity to Canada was convenient for those seeking to escape Southern slavery.
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Vital art never rests
At this late date, it seems impossible that there could still be \"lost\" albums lingering in the vaults by musicians as important and successful as Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney.
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DUKE IN 10
TO COMMEMORATE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DUKE'S DEATH, ROBERT BAIRD SELECTS A DOUBLE HANDFUL OF EXEMPLARY TRACKS FROM PERHAPS AMERICA'S GREATEST MUSICAL GENIUS.
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Piega Coax Gen2 811
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Pass Laboratories XP-27
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EMT 928 II
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Dynaudio Contour 30i
Ah, Denmark. Land of the Vikings and blue-eyed, blond-haired folk with faces sculpted just so.