SHEMEKIA COPELAND — Uncivil War (review)

SHEMEKIA COPELAND — Uncivil War album cover Album · 2020 · RnB Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
snobb
Shemekia Copeland is one among the brightest stars of modern blues in the states. Her music is deeply rooted in the blues tradition, but it sounds surprisingly fresh and modern at the same time. I'm a follower for some years, it's a bit pity that "Uncivil War" isn't as great as it could be.

Comparing it with her previous works, this album is faster, more groovy and significantly influenced by blues-rock. Shemekia's characteristic naïve but usually positivist lyrics are a question of taste, I don't really care much about it here. On the best numbers, her excellent vocals with lots of emotion is what takes listeners by storm. There are some truly exceptional guitarists on board, so songs like hot opener "Clotilda’s On Fire" or "Money Makes You Ugly" burn as hell. "Give God The Blues" is a clever reggae-ballade and "In The Dark" is dark night electric blues at it's best.

Main album's problem is that beside above mentioned strong numbers there are lot of fillers. Stones' "Under My Thumb" cover is probably the oddest one. Country scented "Uncivil War" and "Dirty Saint" aren't much better. Listening to this album again and again during the last few months, I just noticed that I'm listening actually to four or five songs from it on account of the others. It's still worth the attention because of its best songs.

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Fellow Creatures : We Must Fight 21st Century Modern
JASPER HØIBY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Misha Mengelberg & Sabu Toyozumi : Analects Of Confucius Avant-Garde Jazz
MISHA MENGELBERG
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lost Session, Paris 1979 Avant-Garde Jazz
DAVE BURRELL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Rivbea Live! Series Volume 3 Recorded 1974 Avant-Garde Jazz
JIMMY LYONS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Live at PS1 Avant-Garde Jazz
TRIO VOLTAÏCITY (AYUMI ISHITO - YUKO TOGAMI - STAN ZENKOV)
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Yene Felagote
UKANDANZ
snobb· 3 days ago
"Ainda Preciso do Sol" Official Music Video - Adrian Younge
ADRIAN YOUNGE
js· 4 days ago
Slawek Jaskulke - The Royal Symphonic Jazz Suite
SŁAWEK JASKUŁKE
snobb· 4 days ago
PEDRITO MARTINEZ ?? ALEXANDER ABREU ?? YOMIL= ILUSIÓN ÓPTICA (Official Video)
PEDRITO MARTINEZ
js· 4 days ago
Christian McBride & Ursa Major - More Is (Official Audio)
CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE
js· 4 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed