Maria Maldaur

Naughty, Bawdy and Blue

Stony Plain Records

How many of you remember "Midnight At The Oasis"? Here's Dr. Blues's review of her latest.

The title says it all. This disk is loaded with innuendo, coded sex and just plain steaming lust. Maria D'Amato Muldaur is a master of the entendre and you know what I mean. Backed by a stellar 20s style jazz band, Muldaur recreates the era of Storyville, the Harlem renaissance, speakeasies, ragtime and hot women blues. This release is the final in a trilogy exploring classic women blues from the 20s to the 40s. Maria recapitulates the flavor, attitude and sounds of Ma Rainey, Mamie Smith, Sippie Wallace, Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter, et al. Even from her earliest days performing, Victoria Spivey knew Maria Muldaur had the real stuff and now, some 40 years later, Muldaur continues to pour out the jam. James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band honks and staggers and jags with the old time jizz time. They were there for some of the original recordings of these songs and they continue to sound as if they have just stepped out of New Orleans' Preservation Hall. They add the right touch to help Maria recreate the sophisticated, urban blues style of the day and the aura of those mighty women who were free, proud and bawdy! Altogether, the honors and tributes are bestowed with unique brilliance and down to the red light district fun. Maria covers the canon with the depth and heat and her band is the right there.

Using The Great Beyond planetary scale, Dr. Blues says this one causes a great impact as it crashes into Mercury.