Good News,
Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters' sixth album for
Stony Plain, follows the widely celebrated
Just for Today. That set featured guest contributions from vocalist
Diane Blue and Detroit guitarist
Nicholas Tabarias. Both return here, along with special guest guitarist
Zach Zunis, on loan from
Janiva Magness' band. Six of these ten tunes were written or co-written by
Earl. The guitarist has a thing for trains lately:
Just for Today opened with the burner "The Big Train," while here, the kickoff is a total revisioning of "Mystery Train," entitled "I Met Her on That Train," an instrumental where
Zunis,
Tabarias, and
Earl (in that order) improvise in a cutting contest on the choogling vamp. The first of
Blue's four vocal appearances is on
Sam Cooke's classic "Change Is Gonna Come." Though it's a standard, it's difficult to pull off convincingly. She does, and
Earl's guitar fills tag the ends of her lines with empathy, underscoring the hope and faith in her delivery, reminding listeners that
Cooke's melody is rooted in the blues. The bandmembers dig deep into their trick bag and come out with a shimmering reading of
Neal Creque's "Time to Remember," with
Dave Limina offering stellar performances on acoustic piano and B-3. This is the jazzier side of
the Broadcasters, slowly unwinding the melody, finding its Spanish tinge and grooving on its harmonic line. The hinge piece is a nearly 11-minute reading of
Buddy Guy's "In the Wee Hours."
Blue's vocal is excellent, but given the tune's length it's clearly a dialogue for
Earl and
Zunis, with
Limina piano's beautifully coloring the proceedings with gorgeous fills and accents. It will more than likely make guitar fans roar with approval. The deep, undulating, minor-key "Marje's Melody" hosts lyrical interplay between
Tabarias and
Earl. "Blues for Henry" and "Puddin' Pie" are pure Chicago workouts that reveal the depth of the dialogue between
Earl and
Limina, who both deliver scintillating solos, while bassist
Jim Mouradian and drummer
Lorne Entress are unshakable. "Runnin' in Peace" features
Blue delivering a prayerful gospel moan as
Earl stings and slashes through the pain intimated in the grain of her voice.
Good News is yet another excellent entry in the catalog of a band that, as time goes on, becomes a legend unto itself. ~ Thom Jurek
