Eric Bibb
Travels Jericho Road on New CD, Coming
November 5 from
Stony Plain Records
Latest Album
from Multi-Award Winning Singer/Songwriter Is a Masterful Journey of Blues, Folk
and World Music
EDMONTON, AB – Stony Plain Records announces a November 5
release date for Jericho Road, the new CD from multi-award winning
singer/songwriter Eric Bibb. The latest album from Bibb is a masterful
collection of 13 songs and two bonus tracks that solidifies his journey as a
true story-teller, where blues, folk and world music intersect at a musical
crossroads.
“The new record is an ambitious studio project that’s been a
few years in the making,” says Eric Bibb about Jericho Road. “It
was produced by Glen Scott, a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist,
recording engineer, arranger and producer, who I’ve had the pleasure of
collaborating with on several earlier albums. This record reflects many of the
musical influences that have informed my writing throughout my career. World
music sounds, blues, folk and soul all find their way into these
songs.
“The title refers to the road between Jerusalem and Jericho
where the Good Samaritan, a traveler of a despised race, stopped to help a
stranger in need after better-off religious leaders had passed by and done
nothing. On April 3, 1968, the night before his death, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King urged us to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, saying: ‘Ultimately,
you cannot save yourself without saving others.’ If this record has a theme,
that’s it in a nutshell: have a heart.”
The all original tunes that comprise Jericho Road
feature a number of songs co-written by Eric Bibb and Glen Scott, who
also contributed musical backing on several instruments throughout the sessions.
The two bonus tracks are “Now,” co-written by Bibb and Ernie McNally, and
“Nanibali,” written and performed on vocal and kora by Solo
Cissokho.
“My dear
friend Ernie McNally gifted the world with these beautiful lyrics that inspired
this call for a new world,” writes Bibb in the liner notes about “Now.”
“Stylistically, this song stuck out from the others on the album, but the divine
vocals from the wonderful Linda Tillery and Tammi Brown, Glen’s rhapsodic,
churchy piano and the soulful trumpet sounds from Goran Kajfes compelled me to
include it as a bonus track.
“Composed,
sung and played by Solo Cissokho, ‘Nanibali’ is, for me, the perfect ending of
the Jericho Road journey,” Bibb adds. “This thrilling performance
by a modern West African griot celebrates unity, understanding and love between
all members of the global community.”
Jericho Road is Eric Bibb’s fourth album for
Stony Plain and follows Deeper in the Well, which
was nominated for two Blues Music Awards (winning him the 2013 honor for
“Acoustic Artist”); and Brothers in Bamako, the
critically-acclaimed pairing of Bibb and West African singer/guitarist Habib
Koité (pronounced “Ha-beeb Kwa-tay”). His first label release came in 2006, when
Eric and his legendary father, Leon Bibb, collaborated on the album, Praising Peace: A Tribute to Paul
Robeson.
“Travelling
over land and sea, playing and singing to audiences large and small, has blessed
me with countless opportunities to observe and befriend people from all over the
world,” observes Bibb in the new album’s liner notes. “Through the years I’ve
discovered that while the human tribe is wonderfully diverse, we are not all
that different from one another.
“Given all
this exposure to so many cultures, I’m amazed, over and over again, at the
prejudiced attitudes and the tendency to judge that linger in my own thinking.
Making assumptions about people based on appearance is what we’ve all been
conditioned to do, and falling into that trap is surely a big part of what keeps
us in conflict with each other. Every time I catch myself going there I shake my
head and hope that I’ve learned my lesson. Sometimes, the experience will lead
to a new song.
“Musically,
the songs that we’ve written for this record reflect many of the influences that
have inspired us throughout our careers,” he continues. “World music sounds,
blues, folk, soul and jazz flavors all find their way into the
grooves.”
For more information, visit www.stonyplainrecords.com
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