Jigsaw Heart Shows Off Eden Brent's Country Side

In 2008, I called Eden Brent’s album Mississippi Number One, “ is a stunning recording of blues, jazz and soul… .“ I also observed that “[a]s a singer she sings with the authority of the late Esther Phillips, if a bit less nasal, while displaying the sassiness of a Denise LaSalle and a bit of Bobby Gentry’s country soul.” I was similarly impressed by next album Ain’t Got No Troubles, noting it “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.” Eden Brent’s latest album, Jigsaw Heart (Yellow Dog Records) is another recording that  displays perhaps more of her country side as a performer.

Like Ain’t Got No Troubles, this was produced by Colin Linden who also contributes guitar (and mandolin on one track). Some of the others playing behind Eden on this include John Dymond on bass, Gary Craig on drums, Dan Dugmore on pedal steel, Kenzie Wetz on fiddle. Brent’s originals are mixed with interpretations of songs from Joan Armatrading, Billy Taylor & Dick Dallas, and Jimmy Phillips amongst others.

The very first two numbers illustrate the range of music on Jigsaw Heart as well as the extent of Ms. Brent’s talent and artistry.Better This Way has her singing about leaving today but the relationship ended sometime before, so lets raise a glass to toast the past.. This is a classic country waltz that has a bit of a swamp pop feel as well. Everybody Already Knows in contrast is a romp about the whole town knowing Eden and her lover are messing round, with some wonderfully rollicking piano that evokes Jerry Lee Lewis (although perhaps not quite as wild). Both are superbly sung and played and display her considerable gift as a songwriter. The title tracks another wonderful lyric as she asks her cowboy angel whether he has what it takes to un-break her heart.

In addition to these wonderful originals she provides her own take on Joann Armatrading’s Opportunity, with a vocal that suggests Bobby Gentry. Another noted cover is the Billy Taylor- Dick Dallas penned I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, which was inspired by Nina Simone’s classic rendition of this. Its a good performance with backing singers, although I would love to hear Eden perform this just with her piano.

Jigsaw Heart is a superb recording. Eden Brent has a range as a pianist, singer and songwriter comparable to the late Charlie Rich. Like Rich she brings complete authority to renditions of blues, country and soul. I look forward to hearing more from Eden Brent and her continual musical growth.

I received my review copy from Yellow Dog Records. Here is a video of a interview and performance by Eden.

Oh yes, those copyright blues.

Jazz Wax is a fascinating blog by Mark Myers.  Today he ran an interesting blog entry inspired by the donation of the Savory Collection to the National Jazz Museum which included some truly historical live recordings and includes this thought: "What you may not know is that a firestorm has been raging among the jazz cognoscenti since the news first broke in mid-August. At issue is whether the recordings will ever see the light of day commercially. There appears to be a hornet's nest of U.S. copyright issues looming. In addition, there's the very real threat that whatever the museum does release digitally will immediately be pirated by European record labels and sold here for less."

Mark Myers then in discussing this issue provides a concise discussion of the differences in copyright laws in the United States and Europe and provides the interesting thought questioning whether copyright law should be providing annuities to the grandchildren of the creator.

In addition to this he observes the new Maynard Ferguson Mosaic set and some recent Cds including a  concise review of Eden Brent's excellent new CD, Ain't Got No Troubles, as well as pianist-composer, Amina Figarova's Sketches.  Earlier this week, the blog ran a multi-part interview by Mark with Phil Schaap on Charlie Parker. This is a blog well worth following.

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

Eden Brent's Potent Musical Blend

Winner of The Blues Foundation’s solo/duo category at the 2006 International Blues Foundation, singer-pianist Eden Brent brings plenty of depth to her music. Yellow Dog Records will be issuing the new album by the Greenville, Mississippi native, Mississippi Number One. As a singer she sings with the authority of the late Esther Phillips, if a bit less nasal, while displaying the sassiness of a Denise LaSalle and a bit of Bobby Gentry’s country soul. She certainly can pound out some strong barrelhouse rooted piano as well as more in jazz vein. Much of this is comprised of originals penned by her and late mother, Carole. The opening Mississippi Flatland Blues, is a rollicking number with her rollicking barrelhouse playing backed just by bass and drums. She takes things a bit more in a Stax-tinged vein on her original about a two-timing man, He'll Do The Same Thing To You, with organ and horns added to the mix before she changes gears the solo rendering of Darkness on the Delta, and her mother’s marvelous ballad, Love Me ‘Til Dawn, with a leaner delivery and some nice alto saxophone by Kevin Lewis. On the jaunty Fried Chicken, her sassy vocal is simply and effectively supported by Rick Chancery guitar and harmonica. The title track is her spirited salute to the two-lane road that takes one to her childhood road, that cuts through the Delta, with Mimosa trees, with some rollicking piano in the vein of Jerry Lee Lewis. She shows her interpretative abilities on solo performances of ‘The Man I Love, Careless Love, Why Don’t You Do Right, and Trouble in Mind, thoughtfully delivering these well known songs and embellishing these very nicely. Oddly the latter number is credited in the booklet to Amos Milburn and not its composer Richard Jones. Another uptown R&B number is Meet You Anywhere, with tinges of Crescent City funk, while her late mother’s Close That Door, as she tells one that she is tired of his wrong doing way so he should close the door and walk away, as she is through with heartaches. This marvelous recording concludes with Until I Die,’ a lyric that can be interpreted both in a secular and spiritual vein with a bit of church added by Rich Steff’s organ and the vocal choir. Eden Brent is marvelous as a songwriter, singer and pianist and listening to this, one can understand why she has impressed so many. Mississippi Number One is a stunning recording of blues, jazz and soul that will have many waiting for her next recording.

I note that Mississippi Number One is scheduled for release on April 18, 2008.