[rating=7.00]
After developing a credible reputation accompanying redoubtable musicians such as Warren Haynes, Ruthie Foster aims to make a name for herself with Joy Comes Back. And based on the innate humility of such collaborators as Derek Trucks, in combination with her own vocal, instrumental and compositional talents; she is well on the way to developing her own distinctive artistic persona.
It’s no disparagement of Foster’s voice, a well-spring of emotion as depicted on “What Are You Listening To?,” that her choice of material indicates an intrinsic courage and belief in her own creative compass. Nouveau outlaw country star Chris Stapleton composed that opening cut, which gives way to an appropriately ominous take on Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” nicely contrasted with the sprightly interpretation of Mississippi John Hurt’s “Richland Woman Blues.” Foster’s no-nonsense attitude is as clear-cut on those as on “Working Woman.”
Ruthie herself wrote the dreamy “Open Sky” which, immediately following the gospel-influenced title song featuring Trucks’ slide work, still commands attention; her singing displays a well-developed sense of phrasing in addition to its surplus of strength. Redoubtable bassist Willie Weeks appears on the aforementioned track, while former Joe Walsh Barnstormer Joe Vitale drums on three cuts; his presence on, “Forgiven,” for example, is indicative of the practical respect Ruthie Foster commands from those who choose to accompany her.
A gentle, lush cover of The Four Tops “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever” is emblematic of the relaxed air permeating all ten tracks here. That virtue, in turn, suggests a quiet confidence to which Ruthie Foster has earned the right, as much by her work on Joy Comes Back as her prior resume.
