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Artist Description | The Blind Boys Of Alabama
After performing together for over six decades, The Blind Boys of Alabama have enjoyed one of the more striking comebacks in recent memory. Their last several albums have earned these hipster septuagenarians the best reviews and record sales of their career, four Grammy® Awards (an honour that didn’t exist when the Blind Boys started out) in a four-year span and a completely new, contemporary audience.
The Blind Boys’ audience, once rigidly segregated and confined to traditional Gospel venues, now reflects the group’s eclectic, global following, while their repertoire has expanded to embrace secular songs with a strongly spiritual message. Even so, the Blind Boys’ lengthy saga remains a steadfast testament to constancy. Singer Jimmy Carter, who was there when the group was first formed, leads the band today with the firm conviction, joyous commitment, and gravitas that befit an elder statesman.
But Carter’s venerable stature does not preclude an adventurous openness to musical experimentation. Hence The Blind Boys’ recent decision to record Down in New Orleans, accompanied by some of the Crescent City’s most distinguished R&B and jazz musicians, including Allen Toussaint, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the Hot 8 Brass Band. “This particular flavour is new for us,” Carter comments. “We’ve never recorded in New Orleans. We’ve had it in our minds to work there for awhile, and we decided to do it now to support New Orleans while they rebuild after the hurricane. I can’t get up on a ladder and hammer nails, but me and the guys can sing inspirational songs that will help lift people’s hearts while they hammer nails.
“You see, some people think that Gospel singers should only sing Gospel songs. But we believe in songs with a positive message. Now, we will never cross over into pop music and start singing love songs. But I am not one of those Gospel singers who thinks blues and rhythm & blues is the Devil’s music. No, indeed! I love the blues. I am a big fan of Blind Boy Fuller, Sonny Boy Williamson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, B. B. King.
“From way back, we always knew who those blues and R&B artists were and we admired them all, including the ones from New Orleans, like Fats Domino. We didn’t perform with them, way back in the day, because Gospel was separate. But we perform with them today.” In recent years, The Blind Boys have also performed and recorded with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Randy Travis, Peter Gabriel, Solomon Burke, Lou Reed, and Ben Harper.
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