Artist:     Gaye Adegbalola

Album:     The Griot

Label:     VizzTone

Release Date:     1.4.2019

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The griot is a member of a class of traveling poets, musicians, and storytellers who maintain a tradition of oral in parts of West Africa; and in terms of blues musicians like Gaye Adegbalola and the recent project from Eric Bibb, it means lots of contemporary politics too. Some political albums are more indirect or cleverly positioned. Gaye, though, chooses to basically hit us with a 2 x 4. She has the long-term view and life experience to qualify her for this role. She was a founding member of the 25-year-running Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women, she is a mother, a BMA winner and former Virginia State Teacher of the Year. At 74, she is intent of keeping history alive, delivering empowering message, sending hope to the heartbroken and keeping her signature humor intact.

She has a subtitle for album “Topical Blues for Topical Times!” and doesn’t make the listener have to work very hard to understand what she’s singing about. In fact, the back of the CD jacket lists 17 tracks laid out this way: (examples)

1 – HISTORY LESSON: Nothing’s Changed

2 – DEFINITION: The Griot

3 – HYPOCRISY: Liearrahea

6 – POLLUTION: (You’re) Flint Water

7 – PROTEST: Kaepernicked

Additionally, Adegbalola provides the lyrics to each song in the booklet and themes beyond those above include female genital mutilation (FGM), mental illness, poverty, technology, old age, vanity and the usual subjects of love, freedom and hope. All songs are hers with exception of three where she nods to other writers. “HOPE: (There is Always) One More Time” is from Doc Pomus, “SEX: Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl” is from Bessie Smith and “BETRAYAL: Jelly Bean Blues” owes to Ma Rainey.

Adegbalola plays acoustic guitar, slide guitar and harmonica and is joined by multi-instrumentalist Jeff Covert, who plays multiple guitars, bass, keys, and drums—basically whatever’s needed. Other musicians help on select tracks, some which feature a horn section. The music is gritty and old school, not too different from Saffire as Adegbalola shifts from spoke word, to rap and trademark raspy vocals, depending on the tune.

She begins with the in-your-face “Nothing’s Changed.” Here’s just one verse: “KKK and Nazis march in Charlottesville/Spewing hate, carrying guns, wanting blood to spill/They’re saluting Hitler and their President/They wave their rebel flags and like the war ain’t over yet/Some will stand against democracy it’s true/Star-spangled love in the red, white, and blue” Referring to POTUS 45, she offers the bitingly sarcastic “Liarrahea.”

On “Ain’t Technology Grand?” it’s as if she wants to be mostly humorous but can’t help but get into a protest mode. The juxtaposition of these attitudes is perhaps her strength. For example, “(You know what else I can do?)/ I can video the truth, I can offer up the proof/When authorities take down another black youth/Chorus…with last line: I can tell the (whole) world with one command.” “Don’t Criticize Me,” which rails against the (dare I say) uppity 1%, “My blues find humor in the pain/Of day-to-day living/Your 3 dollar words and flatted thirds/Are so unforgiving”

Sometimes it’s a matter of just being downright angry as she is on “(You’re) Flint Water” with its refrain “I can’t even flush you away” or straight ahead humor in one the album’s strongest tracks poking fun on how women get dressed to the nines to go to church on Sunday morning in “3 Hour Shoes (Stylin’ for the Lord).” There’s no doubt that Adegbalola is a keen observer. You can seemingly converse on any topic and runs a full gamut of them on this effort, which may not yield any enduring songs, but instead many meaningful lyrical snippets that define her provocative stance.

—Jim Hynes