Danielle Nicole: Fireflies

It does not in any way disparage the efforts of bassist/vocalist Danielle Nicole or her fifth full-length album, Fireflies , to state that guitarist Luther Dickinson's sole appearance on these eleven cuts, during "Take Me Back," is the flashpoint of the long player.  The co-founder of the North Mississippi Allstars has made a career of reconfiguring his roots in the blues, and along those same lines the distaff Kansas City, Missouri native has pursued a modified sound for herself. Dickinson's alternately scorching and hammer-down electric playing recalls his accompaniment alongside kindred spirit in modern blues Anders Osborne on Nicole's Wolf Den (Concord Records, 2015)

It is an alchemical change she speaks to, fittingly and directly, on the very first cut, "Radical Love." She then goes on to further transmogrify her soul/r&b roots as depicted on her previous outings such as the Grammy-nominated Cry No More (Concord, 2018); "Memories" is something else altogether different from the prior track,  a vintage ballad Nicole wails with such concerted force, the late Otis Redding might be proud of the performance (and perhaps a little envious too).

Brandon Miller's own guitar solo there defuses the intensity just enough to prevent the instrumental impact from overwhelming the singing. And Jim Pugh's ringing piano notes serve the same complementary function, in much the same way his organ playing contours to the rhythm guitar playing of the man who authored most of this material. 

Drummer/percussionist Tony Braunagel produced Fireflies and his unique vantage point at the kit furthers economical arrangements that only occasionally ("Gaslight," "Tug of War") feature the gospel-drenched background vocalists Melodye Perry and Maxayne Moriguchi. Nicole and company suggest rather than overstate here.

The aforementioned studio supervisor's pedigree, including work with disparate figures as Taj Mahal and late Free guitarist Paul Kossoff furthers a diversity of style, allowing riffing to dominate "Piper" before the ethereal likes of "The Same Love That Me Laugh." Fireflies is full of surprises, not the least of which may be that none of the participants—or for that matter the collective at large—succumb to the over-obvious tropes of the genre. 

In fact, the sly wit of the latter cut, one of two selections composed by Bill Withers (along with artful syncopation that is the penultimate number "Dreams"), is a study in contrasts with the title song that closes this album: intentional or not, further echoing of the late 'King of Soul' applies emphatic punctuation to what might well be termed the musical mission statement of Danielle Nicole's rapidly evolving career.