Mavis Staples at The Carver

Mavis Staples
The Carver Community Cultural Center
Jo Long Theatre
San Antonio, Texas
November 21, 2025

As liner notes to her 2025 album, Sad and Beautiful World (Epitaph Records) rightly maintain, "Few people wield the combination of moral authority and musical artistry that Mavis possesses." The sounds that come out of her mouth seem to emanate directly from her soul. At age 86, Mavis Staples is still in command of the sublime and earthy voice that has made her one of America's most beloved singers for over seven decades.

For jazz fans unfamiliar with the stature of the Chicago-born-and-based singer, the last surviving member of The Staple Singers, her many honors include a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and three additional Grammys, one for Album of the Year. She has been inducted into the Rock & Roll, Gospel, and Blues Halls of Fame, and Rolling Stone magazine regards her as one of "100 Great Singers of All Time."

On the storied Carver stage, she and her "love train" of a road band brought nothing but "joy, happiness, inspiration, and positive vibrations" to the capacity crowd, as she promised at the outset.  As for her ensemble, guitarist Rick Holmstrom led a lean and clean outfit comprised of Gregory Boaz on bass and Steve Mugalian at the drums, with the tuneful team of Saundra Williams and Kelly Hogan on supporting vocals.

The seasoned and sympatico Los Angeles-based trio of Holmstrom, Boaz and Mugalian have served as her rhythm team for several recordings (all Anti—Records): Live: Hope at the Hideout (2008), If All I Was Was Black (2017) and the Grammy-winning You Are Not Alone (2020). Their discography as a self-contained trio includes Late in the Night (M.C. Records, 2007), Get It! (LuEllie Records, 2022) and—with Staples in a guest appearance—Cruel Sunrise (M.C. Records, 2012).

Holstrom, raised in Alaska and based in LA, has been with Staples for close to two decades, and their bond feels that tight, that familial. In fact, she refers him as "Pops, Jr," after her father, Roebuck, who died in 2000. Holmstrom's no-holds-barred approach to the blues suits Staples' soul-baring vocal style to a tee. On the Carver bandstand, it was mezmerizing to watch them leading each other into deep grooves and emotional heights. Like brother and sister, theirs is a sibling revelry and contagious mutual admiration that feels genuine and uncontrived.

Hogan and Williams perform with both Holmstrom's trio and Staples' ensemble. Born in Harlem and bred in the Bronx, Williams began her career at a young age, with commercials and voiceovers (along with dance lessons at the Alvin Ailey School). She has continued with most all of that, adding studio sessions, TV and film spots over the years. Her live-music résumé includes stretches in backing bands for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Victor Wooten and Warren Haynes. A busy session and backing vocalist with a four-decade career, Georgia-born, Chicago-based Hogan has discographical credits for projects under her own name and has logged road time with Neko Case, The Decemberists, Jakob Dylan, Andrew Bird and Alejandro Escovedo.

The set list at The Carver featured inspired renditions of Tom Waits' "Chicago" and other tunes from Staples' 2025 release, along with solo repertoire such as "You Are Not Alone" and choice hits from Staple Singers days, including "Freedom Highway" (Epic Records, 1965); "Heavy Makes You Happy/Sha Na Boom Boom" (Single, Stax, 1970);  "I'm Just Another Soldier" and "Respect Yourself" (Respect Yourself, Stax, 1972); "City in the Sky" (City in the Sky, Stax Records, 1974); "Handwriting on the Wall" (Unlock Your Mind, Omnivore, 2020); and "Friendship" (Pops Staples, Don't Lose This, Dbpm, 2015).  

Staples' music comes straight from the heart and mind of a master. She and her touring group are a definite must-see.

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