The wise intuition and emotional commitment of Bettye LaVette’s interpretative skills find an ideal setting on “Blackbirds,” a collection of songs mostly associated with Black women, from Nina Simone to Billie Holiday.
Supported by a quartet including producer-drummer Steve Jordan, keyboardist Leon Pendarvis, guitarist Smokey Hormel and bassist Tom Barney, LaVette’s customary transformation of the source material intensifies its sentiments, whether of abandonment, yearning and even sheer brutality, as on “Strange Fruit” and its recurrent relevance.
Blending soul, jazz and blues and recorded as if on an intimate stage, “Blackbirds” has substantial emotional heft.
The songs on the nine-track album, which also features a string quartet on several tunes, include details that LaVette recognizes and embraces as connections to her own life, with the personal links boosting their resonance, even if they may remain hidden from outsiders.
