Marcia Ball
So Many Rivers
Alligator 4891 - Release date 2003
available on Amazon
Marcia Ball's strong western Louisiana eastern Texas roots run powerfully through this disc and she has increased the range of the material she covers. She is rock solid in the foundation of her piano playing and phrasing, she is so tied to the rhythms of the music that it seems as if she is in complete syncopation with the drumming of Tom Fillman and the bass of both Don Bennett and Yoggie Musgrove. We have the production work of Stephen Bruton who also added his other worldly guitar work to the mix. Marcia Ball's voice has only gotten finer with the passage of time, also probably the collaborations with Irma Thomas and Tracy Nelson have added a lot to potency of her voice and he handling of a song. She has assembled a crack group of musicians here that gives her freedom to take those chances
that make this disc stand out from the crowd. The 6 songs she wrote on this disc are among the standouts here. The slow building strength of “The Storm”, the power and grit in “Give Me A Chance” add a depth to this collection that shows how much she has matured as a performer. She does a great job with putting some bounce into other’s tunes “Honeypie”. This is a standout from this queen of those Gatorhythms that bring the swamp alive.