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MARIA MULDAUR;
THE SINGER WHO
HELPED CREATE
“AMERICANA”
CONTINUES A
STERLING CAREER
Raw Passion,
Soul and Grit
are at the heart
of her new
recordings.
Maria Muldaur is
usually
described, these
days, as a
“heritage”
artist. That’s
because she’s
succeeded, year
after year, as a
singer that
always raises
audiences to
their feet,
keeps coming up
with songs that
resonate, and
continually
makes records
that ring with
the truth.
So here she is,
after all these
years since her
iconic 1974 hit
“Midnight At the
Oasis,” still on
the road, still
making landmark
new records. And
still stretching
the limits of
“Americana” — a
catch-all
description for
a genre she’s
been exploring
since long
before the term
was coined.
Muldaur was born
Maria D'Amato,
and raised in
Greenwich
Village, the
epicenter of all
things hip.
During the folk
revival of the
early '60s, she
began exploring
and singing
early Blues,
Bluegrass,
Appalachian “Old
Timey” music,
beginning her
recording career
in 1963 with the
Even Dozen Jug
Band and shortly
thereafter,
joining the very
popular Jim
Kweskin Jug
Band, touring,
and recording
several albums
with them
throughout the
'60s. Two
records with
then-husband
Geoff Muldaur
followed, but
she began a solo
career when the
marriage and
musical
partnership
ended in 1973.
In 1974,
“Midnight At the
Oasis,” the
single off her
first solo
album, was a
mega pop hit
worldwide, and
garnered her
several Grammy
nominations. Her
follow up hit,
the iconic
feminine anthem
“I’m a Woman,”
also climbed to
the top of the
pop charts, but
her 49-year
career could
best be
described as a
long, and
adventurous
odyssey through
the various
forms of
American Roots
Music.
Throughout all
of her
recordings for
Warner Brothers
and far beyond,
there have been
hints of
old-time
Appalachian,
Classic Jazz,
Big Band Swing,
Bluegrass, R&B,
and Gospel.
Above all, the
Blues — in all
its many
manifestations —
remained the
paramount
influence on her
music.
During her long
recording and
performing
career, she has
often joined
forces with some
of the greatest
artists in these
many
genres...the
likes of, Dr.
John, Ry Cooder,
Doc Watson,
David Lindley,
Hoagy
Carmichael, Jazz
Giants Benny
Carter and Ray
Brown, Mavis
Staples, Bob
Dylan, John
Sebastian, and
many others too
numerous to
mention.
There have been
some 38
recordings and
continuous
touring both in
North America
and abroad.
She’s played on
Broadway, she’s
sung with Jerry
Garcia and the
Grateful Dead.
She’s made
wonderfully
charming records
for children,
and she’s sung
cheerfully bawdy
blues that would
make preachers
blush. Her
recordings are
frequent
nominees and
winners of major
awards.
Her critically
acclaimed 2001
Stony Plain
release,
Richland
Woman Blues,
was nominated
for a Grammy and
named Best
Traditional
Blues Album of
the Year by the
Blues
Foundation, as
was the follow
up to that
album, Sweet
Lovin’ Ol’ Soul.
Her timely 2008
release, Yes
We Can!,
featured songs
from some of the
most socially
concerned
songwriters of
the past half
century: Bob
Dylan, Marvin
Gaye, Allen
Toussaint, Garth
Brooks and
others, and
featured her
“Women’s Voices
for Peace Choir”
which included
Bonnie Raitt,
Joan, Baez, Jane
Fonda, Odetta,
Phoebe Snow,
Holly Near and
others.
For her 2009
Stony Plain
recording, Maria
revisited her
original Jug
Band roots,
teaming up with
old friends John
Sebastian, David
Grisman and Dan
Hicks. Maria
Muldaur & Her
Garden of Joy
was nominated
for Best
Traditional
Blues Album of
the Year at the
Blues Foundation
Awards, and
garnered Maria
her 6th Grammy
nomination.
So here’s the
new Maria
Muldaur CD,
released
internationally
Sept. 27 on
Stony Plain
Records. Her
39th album, it’s
called Steady
Love, and it
marks Maria’s
return to one of
her favorite
places on this
planet: New
Orleans.
Steady Love
is a
contemporary
slice of work
—soulful, sassy
and built on
rhythmic grooves
that could only
have been laid
down in the
Crescent City
with an “A Team”
of solid-sending
players that
have Louisiana
in their basic
DNA. She calls
it “Bluesiana
music” —her own
brand of blues,
R&B and “swamp
funk.
Keyboardist, and
funkmeister
extraordinaire
David
Torkanowsky
acted as musical
director, and
“master
facilitator” —
leading a band
whose street
language is soul
and funk.
But, as always,
it’s the songs
that count.
Choosing great
songs has always
been one of
Maria Muldaur’s
special talents.
Two classic
Louisiana
songwriters,
Percy Mayfield
and Bobby
Charles, are
represented in
the song
line-up, as are
Americana
writers such as
Eric Bibb, Greg
Brown and
Stephen Bruton.
Steady Love
is a notable
benchmark in
Maria Muldaur’s
long and
remarkable
career. Long
based in the San
Francisco Bay
Area, she spends
long spells on
the road playing
North America’s
most prestigious
concert halls,
festivals and
clubs.
Perhaps adopting
John Lee
Hooker’s motto —
in his 80s, he
famously said
“It’s too late
to quit now” —
she has no plans
to slow down.
When you make
records as
vital, soulful
and as deeply
felt as this,
and when your
live
performances are
so spectacular,
why would you?
Her audience,
loyal as ever,
applauds. And,
in return, Maria
Muldaur gives
the gift of
America’s best
music.
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