Eden Brent's New Recording Is Marvelous

Eden Brent certainly has emerged as one of the most promising new artists in the blues world. Most recently she was the winner of the Pinetop Perkins Blues Piano award at the 2010 Blues Music Awards, and she certainly will be winning more acclaim for her latest disc, “Ain’t Got No Troubles” (Yellow Dog Records). Produced by guitarist Colin Linden, this disc was recoded in New Orleans with George Porter, Jr. on bass., and Bryan Owings on drums with appearances by Tracy Collins on trumpet, Emil Hall on alto saxophone, Jeff Albert on trombone and Jon Cleary on the Hammond B3. The musicians complement her flowing, boogie-laced piano and her husky, unforced vocals. She reminds this listener for some reason of the late Katie Webster (perhaps it is the groove of the opening “Someone to Love”) with a huskier voice. Besides her own fine lyrics, the bouncy backing the song also sports some nice Crescent flavor horn lines.


The title track is a spirited song about maybe lacking possessions but “ain’t got no troubles on my mind,” with Linden adding some nice slide guitar to the bouncy piano and rhythm and later some second line horns add to the musical stew. The band drops out on “Blues All Over,” where he smokey vocals is matched by her strong, deft piano.  Colin Linden contributed “Later Than You Think,” a nice wry lyric that she delivers with her typical sassy delivery, while her “Leave Me Alone,” has a wistful lyric that she delivers in a soul-styled manner. “Let’s Boogie-Woogie,” is an exuberant romp that is one of the better original boogie woogie numbers this writer has heard in several years with some strong boogie woogie playing. “My Man,” strides in a high-spirited manner (despite the very restrained playing from the band), as Eden celebrates her lover who makes every date be “like a jubilee.” “If I Can’t” has lovely acoustic picking from Linden as Brent sings that “If I can’t kiss you honey, Don’t want to keep my idle lips.”

The album closes with “Goodnight Moon,” displaying a more reflective side of her and it closes this disc on a very high note. “Ain’t Got No Troubles,” mixes a marvelous pianist and vocalist with strong material, sympathetic backing and varied, imaginative programming resulting in a terrific recording that should appeal to blues and roots music fans. This is one of the better new recordings I have heard this year.


The review copy of the disc was provided by Yellow Dog Records