Album Reviews

Chris Thomas King “Rises” The Truth In Us

Chris Thomas King is a multifaceted, New Orleans-based King, a formidable blues guitarist-singer-songwriter and sometimes actor. King released his 13th studio recording “Rise”. In “Rise” central theme takes Katrina and the devastating aftermath of the storm, and all of the lives that were changed after that catastrophe. The album has 11 tracks, released on the 1st of April by Virtual Label Group.

“Rise” starts with the heart touching “What Would Jesus Do?,” also gospel flavored “Faith,” the stinging slow blues “Baptized in Dirty Water” and the melancholy “Flow Mississippi Flow” are the songs that show us what happened when Katrina spread hear rage, and the consequences after. King also made a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” where the story is about incalculable loss and the incredible indifference of contemporary America to its own personal history. Another great cover is the Louis Armstrong anthem “What a Wonderful World,” and we all know this song as a cheerful and optimistic track but in “Rise” this cover makes a ironic counterpoint to the pain and suffering chronicled elsewhere. Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau on his haunting “Like a Hurricane (Ghost of Marie Laveau)”, where she is presented as a angry deity who drowns in the city with her tears. One of the highlights include “Faith, with lyrics promoting family and solidarity while identifying the hypocrisy of the government.

The album “Rise” is not only special for the story it tells but also for the talent and quality of the music itself. Chris Thomas King did a remarkable thing, he shared his grief and sorrow with the word, and made sure that the victims of the Katrina hurricane won’t be forgotten.