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The New Orleans Social Club | |
Sing Me Back Home | Burgundy/Sony By: CLEA SIMON4/24/2006 5:36:24 PM 
 Good intentions do not great art make. Although the debut (and only?) effort by the New Orleans Social Club unites New Orleans musicians past (Dr. John) and present (Irma Thomas, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, Henry Butler, and various Nevilles, among others), it fails to bring out the best in their shared traditions. Cyril Neville’s choice of opener, Curtis Mayfield’s “This Is My Country,” and nephew Ivan’s take on “Fortunate Son” signal the righteous anger of these post-Katrina exiles, but neither of these mid-tempo, mild-mannered covers captures the lyrics’ emotional intensity, and the same goes for “Look Up,” a surprisingly pallid duet between Marcia Ball and Thomas. Butler’s delicately pretty “Somewhere” and a rave-up “99 1/2 Won’t Do” from the gospel Mighty Chariots of Fire do break through the gloss. But like the group’s take on the Meters’ “Loving You Is on My Mind,” most of this disc plays as easygoing funk, pleasant but lacking the urgency of, say, the Nonesuch post-hurricane compilation Our New Orleans or even Thomas’s fiercely soulful, unadorned new After the Rain (Rounder).
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