TOP 20 CD's of 2000

Music Critic Keith Spera picks Spencer Bohren the Best in Louisiana Music

New Orleans Times-Picayune | January 5, 2001

Spencer Bohren traveled many miles before coming home. Just as he had toured the country for years in an Airstream trailer and lived out West before returning to New Orleans, a city that had seduced the Wyoming native once before, he had released several albums of acoustic blues and folk before rediscovering his musical roots in gospel.

"Carry the Word" is a quietly moving synthesis of traditional gospel and noble blues, a timeless recording of delicate beauty that is simultaneously old and new. The bare-bones arrangements - most consist only of Bohren's voice and slide guitar, with occasional embellishment by JAB Wilson's harmonica, the Nott Brothers gospel quartet and singer Teresa Albury - lend additional poignancy to the inherent convictions of the material. On "I Am a Pilgrim," Bohren's voice is set against the deep intonations of the Nott Brothers and the long, resonating quivers of guitar strings. "Samson and Delilah" brims with subtle menace and foreboding. The last lingering note of the haunting "One Kind Favor" trails off, taking listeners away with it. Bohren testifies on "I've Been Delivered," settles in for a gorgeous "Amazing Grace," then lays "Beulah Land" down in the pocket. He is completely at ease - and at home - on this special album.

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