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Mavis Staples
Human spinal columns are reported to resonate at a specific intensity when Mavis Staples steps up to the microphone. Her tangy contralto, which is seriously too damn sexy to be confined to singing about just the Lord, shakes up the nervous system like a fingernail flicking a tuning fork. It’s got some mystic chakra-unlocking power while never being anything but grits-and-gravy real. Listen back to those Staple Singers classics, like “I’ll Take You There,” and tell us Mavis doesn’t push things to the cusp of ecstasy.
Better yet, she’s still got it, as 2008’s locally recorded Live: Hope at the Hideout established beyond any doubt. Her band’s swamp-garage whammy blew away the polite studio versions of march-on-Selma-era protest blues like J.B. Lenoir’s “Down in Mississippi” and made gospel gems righteously, um…lusty. This week, Staples might take the chance to show off some new material. She’s currently holed up in the Wilco loft with Jeff Tweedy and an all-star assortment of Chicago’s alt-twang gang cutting a new record. It’s an approach that makes a lot more sense than the usual pairings of bluesy 1960s legends with predictably hammy special guests (ladies and gentlemen, Solomon Burke with Ben Harper!).
Local vocal heroines Kelly Hogan and Nora O’Connor are among the notables, rocking backup vocals. They must be praising the heavens right now for a dream come true. But us? We’re not sure our backbone can take it.
