Unconditional

Eclecto Groove

For her sixth studio album (counting her 1998 debut as a member of Hush), Yugoslavian singer-songwriter-guitarist Popovic left her Amsterdam base for three months to descend on the Crescent City and craft her finest release.

With help from Grammy-winning producer John Porter, some of New Orleans’ best musicians and a vocal coach, Popovic takes her formidable blues-rock skills in more of a traditional blues direction while maintaining her jazz and soul propensities.

The core backup band consists of Jon Cleary on keyboards, Calvin Turner on bass and Doug Belote on drums. Louisiana great Sonny Landreth challenges her to a slide duel on “Slideshow,” the sole instrumental. Jason Ricci, a recent New Orleans transplant who’s among the vanguard of blues harp players, wails on “Count Me In.” Keys maestro David Torkanowsky, of jazz improv group Astral Project, replaces Cleary on two cover songs: the Nat Adderley standard “Work Song” and Koko Taylor’s “Voodoo Woman,” which holds what might be the record’s best slide solo.

“Unconditional” opens with an acoustic-slide gospel number, “Fearless Blues.” The title cut is a blues shuffle, containing yet another killer electric-slide solo. “Reset Rewind” again approaches gospel territory, throwing in a one-two keyboard punch of electric piano and organ. “Business as Usual” is blues all the way.

Other highlights are “Your Love Ain’t Real,” entering the realm of funk/R&B; and “Summer Rain,” which is pure R&B.

The set closes with two more covers: Mercy Dee Walton’s “One Room Country Shack” and Sugar Pie DeSanto’s big Chess hit, “Soulful Dress,” written by Maurice McAlister and Terry Vail.

Tracks
1. Fearless Blues
2. Count Me In
3. Unconditional
4. Reset Rewind
5. Slideshow
6. Business As Usual
7. Your Love Ain’t Real
8. Work Song
9. Summer Rain
10. Voodoo Woman
11. One Room Country Shack
12. Soulful Dress

Total time: 50:53

External links
artist’s website
amazon.com
iTunes Store