RUTHIE FOSTER
''PROMISE OF A BRAND NEW DAY''
AUGUST 19 2014
44:18
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01 - Singing the Blues 03:45 (Ruthie Foster)
02 - Let Me Know 04:03 (Ruthie Foster)
03 - My Kinda Lover 03:29 (Ruthie Foster)
04 - The Ghetto 03:59 (Homer Banks, Bonnie Bramlett, Bettye Crutcher)
05 - Outlaw 04:50 (Eugene McDaniels)
06 - Second Coming 02:52 (Willie King)
07 - It Might Not Be Right 03:24 (William Bell, Ruthie Foster
08 - Learning to Fly 03:28 (Ruthie Foster)
09 - Believe 04:59 (Charles Haynes, O'Mitchell Henry, Marsha Lubin)
10 - Brand New Day 02:16 (Ruthie Foster)
11 - Complicated Love 03:55 (Ruthie Foster)
12 - New 03:12 (Toshi Reagon)
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Ruthie Foster: vocals
Meshell Ndegeocello: bass guitar
Chris Bruce: guitar
Ivan Edwards: drums
Jebin Bruni: keyboards
Nayanna Holley: background vocals
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REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
There is optimism within the title of Ruthie Foster's Promise of a Brand New Day, an optimism that's reflected in the music itself. Some of this brightness may be due to Foster's decision to have Meshell Ndegeocello produce this 2014 album, giving the neo-soul singer free rein to hire musicians and choose final takes, but Ndegeocello is hardly imposing her own attitude on Foster. Instead, she focuses on the soulful, kind vibe emanating from Foster, a feeling that infuses the message tunes and songs of love that comprise Promise. Often, the record veers ever so slightly to soul over gospel or blues -- something that's perhaps inevitable when William Bell collaborates on "It Might Not Be Right," a song that harks back to the classic Memphis sound. A few other songs on Promise of a Brand New Day touch upon that groove, including the opening "Singing the Blues," while other cuts get a little bit harder and grittier ("Let Me Know," "Believe"), and Foster also has a bit of fun twisting old Dylan lyrics on "Outlaw." That playfulness is subtle, as are the stylistic hybrids, and that might be the best thing about this thoroughly winning record: Foster is wearing her open heart on her sleeve but she's never pushing too hard, never overselling her message; she's charming with her warmth and sly skill.
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Steve Leggett
With a naturally expressive voice that has drawn comparisons to greats like Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald, Texas-based singer and songwriter Ruthie Foster has a wide palette of American song forms -- gospel and blues to jazz, folk, and soul -- and her live performances are powerfully transfiguring. Foster grew up in Gause, Texas, a small town in the Brazos Valley southeast of Dallas, and even as a child she was fascinated by music; she listened to everything she could, hearing and absorbing not just gospel and blues, but also the country and pop songs she heard on the radio. By the age of 14 she was a soloist in a local choir and was certain that her future would revolve around music. When she moved to Waco to attend community college, her studies concentrated around music and audio engineering. She also began fronting a blues band, learning how to command a stage in the rough bars of Texas. Hoping to travel and gain a wider-world perspective, Foster joined the Navy, but her obvious musical talents soon had her singing with Pride, a Navy band that played pop and funk hits at recruitment drives in the southeastern U.S.
Crossover
Following her tour of duty, Foster landed in New York City, where she regularly played various folk venues. Atlantic Records offered her a recording deal, figuring they had a budding pop star on their hands, but Foster wasn't interested in moving in that direction, preferring instead to explore the various strains of American roots music that had informed her childhood. When her mother fell ill in 1993, Foster left New York and her recording deal and returned to Texas. She began working as a camera operator and production assistant at a TV station in College Station, Texas while she cared for her mother, who passed in 1996. A year later in 1997 Foster self-released the album Full Circle before hooking up with Blue Corn Music, which released Crossover in 1999, Runaway Soul in 2002, Stages (featuring a series of live tracks) in 2004, Heal Yourself in 2006, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster in 2008, and The Truth According to Ruthie Foster, recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, in 2009.
Live at Antone's
An engaging live performer, Foster continued to tour regularly, wowing audiences with her powerful voice and stylistic range, all of which was captured in the concert CD/DVD set Live at Antone's, which appeared from Blue Corn in 2011. A new studio outing, Let It Burn, followed in 2012, also from Blue Corn; it was nominated for the Best Blues Album Grammy in 2013. Foster took home the Koko Taylor Award for Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year in 2012, along with the DVD of the Year for Live at Antone's. Foster switched her approach in 2014 with Promise of a Brand New Day, a record produced by Meshell Ndegeocello.
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WEBSITE
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TO THE TOP
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''PROMISE OF A BRAND NEW DAY''
AUGUST 19 2014
44:18
********************
01 - Singing the Blues 03:45 (Ruthie Foster)
02 - Let Me Know 04:03 (Ruthie Foster)
03 - My Kinda Lover 03:29 (Ruthie Foster)
04 - The Ghetto 03:59 (Homer Banks, Bonnie Bramlett, Bettye Crutcher)
05 - Outlaw 04:50 (Eugene McDaniels)
06 - Second Coming 02:52 (Willie King)
07 - It Might Not Be Right 03:24 (William Bell, Ruthie Foster
08 - Learning to Fly 03:28 (Ruthie Foster)
09 - Believe 04:59 (Charles Haynes, O'Mitchell Henry, Marsha Lubin)
10 - Brand New Day 02:16 (Ruthie Foster)
11 - Complicated Love 03:55 (Ruthie Foster)
12 - New 03:12 (Toshi Reagon)
********************
Ruthie Foster: vocals
Meshell Ndegeocello: bass guitar
Chris Bruce: guitar
Ivan Edwards: drums
Jebin Bruni: keyboards
Nayanna Holley: background vocals
********************
REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
There is optimism within the title of Ruthie Foster's Promise of a Brand New Day, an optimism that's reflected in the music itself. Some of this brightness may be due to Foster's decision to have Meshell Ndegeocello produce this 2014 album, giving the neo-soul singer free rein to hire musicians and choose final takes, but Ndegeocello is hardly imposing her own attitude on Foster. Instead, she focuses on the soulful, kind vibe emanating from Foster, a feeling that infuses the message tunes and songs of love that comprise Promise. Often, the record veers ever so slightly to soul over gospel or blues -- something that's perhaps inevitable when William Bell collaborates on "It Might Not Be Right," a song that harks back to the classic Memphis sound. A few other songs on Promise of a Brand New Day touch upon that groove, including the opening "Singing the Blues," while other cuts get a little bit harder and grittier ("Let Me Know," "Believe"), and Foster also has a bit of fun twisting old Dylan lyrics on "Outlaw." That playfulness is subtle, as are the stylistic hybrids, and that might be the best thing about this thoroughly winning record: Foster is wearing her open heart on her sleeve but she's never pushing too hard, never overselling her message; she's charming with her warmth and sly skill.
********************
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Steve Leggett
With a naturally expressive voice that has drawn comparisons to greats like Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald, Texas-based singer and songwriter Ruthie Foster has a wide palette of American song forms -- gospel and blues to jazz, folk, and soul -- and her live performances are powerfully transfiguring. Foster grew up in Gause, Texas, a small town in the Brazos Valley southeast of Dallas, and even as a child she was fascinated by music; she listened to everything she could, hearing and absorbing not just gospel and blues, but also the country and pop songs she heard on the radio. By the age of 14 she was a soloist in a local choir and was certain that her future would revolve around music. When she moved to Waco to attend community college, her studies concentrated around music and audio engineering. She also began fronting a blues band, learning how to command a stage in the rough bars of Texas. Hoping to travel and gain a wider-world perspective, Foster joined the Navy, but her obvious musical talents soon had her singing with Pride, a Navy band that played pop and funk hits at recruitment drives in the southeastern U.S.
Crossover
Following her tour of duty, Foster landed in New York City, where she regularly played various folk venues. Atlantic Records offered her a recording deal, figuring they had a budding pop star on their hands, but Foster wasn't interested in moving in that direction, preferring instead to explore the various strains of American roots music that had informed her childhood. When her mother fell ill in 1993, Foster left New York and her recording deal and returned to Texas. She began working as a camera operator and production assistant at a TV station in College Station, Texas while she cared for her mother, who passed in 1996. A year later in 1997 Foster self-released the album Full Circle before hooking up with Blue Corn Music, which released Crossover in 1999, Runaway Soul in 2002, Stages (featuring a series of live tracks) in 2004, Heal Yourself in 2006, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster in 2008, and The Truth According to Ruthie Foster, recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, in 2009.
Live at Antone's
An engaging live performer, Foster continued to tour regularly, wowing audiences with her powerful voice and stylistic range, all of which was captured in the concert CD/DVD set Live at Antone's, which appeared from Blue Corn in 2011. A new studio outing, Let It Burn, followed in 2012, also from Blue Corn; it was nominated for the Best Blues Album Grammy in 2013. Foster took home the Koko Taylor Award for Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year in 2012, along with the DVD of the Year for Live at Antone's. Foster switched her approach in 2014 with Promise of a Brand New Day, a record produced by Meshell Ndegeocello.
********************
WEBSITE
********************
TO THE TOP
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