Summary
>Folk
Nanci Griffith, "The Loving Kind" (Rounder). After dabbling in torch songs and ornate classic pop, Nanci Griffith makes a strong return to her country-folk roots with "The Loving Kind." A subtle, understated collection of tunes centered around Griffith's wispy but deeply affecting singing, the album is also notable for the breadth of topical songs the singer tackles with quiet determination and poise. Prominent among them is the album's title song, which offers a compassionate take on the story of Mildred and Richard Loving, a white man and African-American woman who were jailed and subsequently forced to leave their native Virginia after marrying in the early '60s. Griffith's take on the absurdity of miscegenation laws a mere 40 years back also deftly suggests that today's laws regarding same-sex marriage might be equally bigoted. That's a tough task to pull off via a simple folk song, but Griffith is up to the task. If "The Loving Kind" is not really a return to form, since Griffith has never really faltered, it is certainly a record that sits comfortably beside her best work. Review: 3 stars (out of four) (Jeff Miers)See the full content of this document
Extract
Listening Post / Brief Reviews of Select Releases
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>JazzCarol Duboc featuring Hubert Laws, "Burt Bacharach Songbook" (Gold Note Music). "And you cannot say his name without also saying the name of Hal David," Dionne Warwick told me when I interviewed her and asked about Burt Bacharach. And she's right. Who ever topped that line in "What Do You Get When You Fall in Love?" that rhymes "pneumonia" with "phone ya"? Here are ...See the full content of this document
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