Taj Mahal … Keb’ Mo’ … Corey Harris … Guy Davis … Otis Taylor … Eric Bibb. These guys, along with a few others, are the vanguard of modern acoustic blues. With all of them, but especially with Bibb, listeners can be sure that every recording, every performance matters. Bibb’s new live album shows the care he puts into his songs and his performances.
One might say Bibb was born into musical royalty. His father, Leon, was a prominent folk singer in New York, and his uncle, John Lewis, was a jazz composer and pianist with the prestigious Modern Jazz Quartet. Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Odetta and Paul Robeson were houseguests, and Robeson was Bibb’s godfather.
But Bibb chose his own path, and it wasn’t so easy (as he makes clear in “Silver Spoon,” below). After spending some time at Columbia University, he made the unexpected choice to pursue a blues career when he became fascinated with pre-war country blues. A true jet setter, Bibb’s career has taken him back and forth to Europe, and he lived in Sweden for extended periods.
After a couple of isolated recordings, Bibb began recording in earnest in the 1990s, and his back catalogue already includes more than 20 albums. He has also garnered three Grammy nominations and numerous Blues Music Awards nominations, winning four times. Like the contemporaries mentioned above, Bibb is no mere country blues mimic. His music includes many influences. Highlights include 2001’s Painting Signs, 2004’s Friends, 2012’s Brothers in Bamako (a collaboration with Malian Habib Koite), Brothers in Bamako, 2013’s Jericho Road, 2017’s Migration Blues, 2018’s Global Griot, Dear America from 2021, and last year’s Ridin’.
His new live album features some of his favorite songs in an energized yet intimate atmosphere. The music is excellent. It is definitely worth a listen. Bibb is a great musician who, at 72, continues to build his legacy.
About the author: Bill Wilcox is a roots music enthusiast recently relocated from the Washington, DC area to Philadelphia, PA and back again.