Carroll, Karen - Talk To The Hand

(1997 ‘Delmark‘) (60:57/13) Fast ausschließlich eigene Songs auf ihrem zweiten, soullastigen Album, das aber auch einige ausgezeichnete Bluesnummern - u.a. den 9-minütigen ‘Neked J Blues‘ - bietet The best musicians transcend styles and techniques. They deliver their hearts and souls, connecting on a primal level, one on one with each and every listener. Karen Carroll is just such an artist and one of the most universal artists to come on the scene since Nina Simone. Within one line, indeed alomst one word of a song, she can lay down the grit of Howlin‘ Wolf stroked by the sass of Sarah Vaughan. Talk to the Hand   features six Karen Carroll originals and a blues style, heavily influenced by gospel, all her own. Of her first album, Had My Fun  , critics had this to say: "Karen Carroll appears poised to make her bid for blues queen of Chicago--her thundering performance should leave the competition quaking." Stephen Sharp, Living Blues. "Karen has an instrumental quality to her vocals--a quality usually reserved to describe the world-class artistry of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan." Larry Hoffman, King Biscuit Times.