Still remembered for her classic hit Midnight at the Oasis, Maria Muldaur has become one of Stony Plain's most treasured artists. Building on her Grammy-nominated collections of classic women's blues from the '20s through the '40s (Richland Woman Blues in 2001, and Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul in 2005), the jazz/blues chanteuse returns with her latest recording Naughty, Bawdy & Blue. It's an apt title for a sassy group of songs originally recorded by Victoria Spivey, Alberta Hunter, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, & other female urban blues stylists the singer describes as "liberated socially, financially, & most of all sexually from the confines and mores of the times." Maria is accompanied throughout by pianist James Dapogny's seven-piece Chicago Jazz Band. Bonnie Raitt makes an appearance on "Separation Blues", a tune which both women had sung with the song's author Sippie Wallace prior to her death in 1988.
Muldaur spices her music with passion & a voice that's scintillating, brazen, & lightly burnished. Whether dipping into the songbook of Peggy Lee or wading into the Louisiana bayou, she completely envelops herself in her chosen style. Gospel, jazz, blues, folk, & country music all mingled in the air Muldaur breathed in Greenwich Village during the 1960s. She headed south & bunked with Doc Watson & family to learn to play fiddle. Muldaur sat cross-legged at the feet of the Rev. Gary Davis, & Victoria Spivey was her personal vocal tutor. Stints in the Even Dozen & Jim Kweskin jug bands led her to the old recordings of Memphis Minnie & a musical foundation that's still intact today. After all these years (and some 30 records), Muldaur peels back the layers of time for Naughty Bawdy & Blue.
Video Of Maria Singing One Hour Mama Track 9 From Naughty, Bawdy, & Blue
Sample Tracks From Naughty, Bawdy, & Blue (2007) 1. Down Home Blues 2. Up The Country Blues   3. Separation Blues 4. A Good Man Is Hard To Find 5. Handy Man 6. New Orleans Hop Scop Blues 7. Smile 8. TB Blues 9. One Hour Mama 10. Early Every Morn 11. Empty Bed Blues 12. Yonder Come The Blues
Sample Tracks From Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul (2005) 1. I Am Sailin' 2. Long As I Can See You Smile   3. Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul 4. Lookin’ The World Over 5. Empty Bed Blues 6. Tricks Ain’t Walkin’ 7. Crazy Cryin’ Blues 8. She Put Me Outdoors 9. Decent Woman Blues 10. I’m Goin’ Back 11. Take A Stand
Sample Tracks From Richland Woman Blues (2001) 1. Richland Woman Blues 2. Grasshoppers In My Pillow   3. It's A Blessing 4. Me And My Chauffeur Blues 5. Put It Right Here 6. Hurry Up And Wait 7. I'm Goin' Back Home 8. My Man Blues 9. In My Girlish Days 10. Far Away Blues 11. I Got To Move 12. Lonesome Desert Blues 13. I Belong To That Band 14. It's A Blessing (Reprise)
• Maria Muldaur Website     • Stony Plain Records     • Ellicott Talent Group